Forgetful Apology
by Indigo Code
Summary: Wheatley is back on Earth. And he only has one thing on his mind, apologizing to his only friend. But when he finally meets her, she doesn't remember anything. Chell is then determined to recollect her hidden memories with the clumsy imbecile, but it's not going to be so easy. *I've been rewriting chapters. Sorry for the lack of newer chapters.*
1. Chapter 1: Forever

~ Wheatley ~

"SP- SPACE! SPACE- _SPACE_!" My forced acquaintance sputters for the thousandth time. I sigh heavily, trying to keep a collected attitude. He flies past me, twitching and jabbering like a full-blown maniac, obsessing over the same _bloody space_ that we've been stuck in for _God-knows-how-long_.

"Corrupted Cores" Ha, you got that right. I'm not even sure why he _enjoys_ this place, let alone fascinate about it so much. What kind of person enjoys a place that's so cold and tedious? All you get is stars and empty space. Stars and empty space.

"SPA- SPA- SPACE! I'M IN SPACE! SP- SPACE ROCKS! SPACE- SPACE PLANETS! _COPS!_ SPACE COPS! SO MUCH SPACE COPS! 'You're under arrest for harboring an illegal amount of space.' _You can't take me alive! You don't know where I live! You wanna' know where?_ IT'S SPA-"

"Alright! I get it! _I get it!_ You live in space- I live in space! We _all_ live in space, mate! _Nothing's changed!_ Absolutely _nothing_!" I snap furiously, "Hey, here's a suggestion- a _tiny_ suggestion- just for you. Why don't we make things a bit different this time, y- you know? So why don't you just keep it to yourself for a while, and let me think- _please_- Just let me _think_." He stares at me, dumb-struck as he floats a little farther away.

"Ah, thank you. Greatly appreciate it. Thank you. That saves me a lot of stress right there. You know… you should stay like that a bit more often. Word of advice, really,"

I can't help but recall about that girl back there; maybe it's because I tried to get rid her. Never even knew her name. But, of course, I don't really know a lot of names, other than my own.

Wonder what she's doing right now. Testing, probably. Still trying to find a way out. Or she's probably gone. That's a scary thought. I'm possibly false on that, though. If she's been through all that, you can basically call her immortal- perpetual, maybe. Ha, I'm probably false on that too. Nobody wants to live forever. Perhaps that's why She's like the way she is. Ah, but She has other problems. Twisted problems. Is the facility even _there_ anymore? Last time I saw it, it was ready to crumble into dust. It's probably just some kind of ancient ruin now, long overlooked, never to be heard of agai-

_"SSPPPPPPPPPPPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCE!"_

"NATHAN! _PLEASE!_" I've been here so long, I even gave him a name: "Nathan". Not an extravagant name. But it does fit him- well, _sort of_.

I'm guessing it's over. No turning back. I'm just going to be here, floating around aimlessly, listening to the madman jabbering over my shoulder (figuratively, of course), staring at nothing but specks of light that shine millions of miles away, and thinking to myself.

Huh, maybe this is what forever feels like.

* * *

~ GLaDOS ~

"Another test completed, Orange. Congratulations," I declare without interest. Orange squeals with delight, hopping from foot to foot in a celebration dance. Blue joins the festivity, skipping around with his partner and chirping in appreciation.

"Blue," I call his attention, but he's still prancing around childishly, wearing away my tolerance.

"Let me remind you that this is the '_Cooperative_ Testing Unit'. Therefore, you must complete each testing chamber as a collaborative team. Blue, your physical pacing has remarkably lacked since chamber four. Consequently, I'm deducting nineteen Science Collaboration Points from _both_ of your overall scores." They stop the merriment to process the new information. Orange then shoves Blue out of anger. And an all-out battle breaks out between them, consisting of lashing of fists and a tug-of-war of limbs.

"Irrationality is _not_ science." I growl at them with hostility faltering my voice. The two freeze in mid-conflict and assume a clumsy military salute.

"Please continue on to the next test." I instruct them irritably. They shuffle obediently to the elevators without another sound.

I will never understand why they act so foolishly toward each other. That's another thing on my list of what I do not understand, like how testing with these childish subjects makes me feel- as if I need a _challenge_. Sure, they acted like them. But they don't look like them. They don't have their specifically flimsy quality. They don't show any noteworthy progress in their data. Three and half years, and they still act the same as when I first built them.

I've been waiting for too long. I need to try something different. I can't be testing in this state of limbo anymore.

Maybe I _should_ use my research right now. I have all the available materials. It could keep me busy until they find what I really need.

Let's continue science, then.


	2. Chapter 2: Satellite

~ Wheatley ~

Figured out how to activate the sleep mode setting in my system. It usually helps when I tire out from listening to Nathan's fixation. The downside is that it's still just like space, except with no stars to observe.

Is this how humans _sleep_? You just sit in the dark and wait for your system to restart? Why do they crave it so much then? It doesn't make sense! Why didn't the reserve test subjects go mad when they were in stasis? If _I_ was trapped in a tacky, motel-styled room without anything to keep me entertained except for sleeping, I would've grabbed the nearest piece of furniture and aimed for the door!

Well, I guess my situation is worse than being in stasis.

_Clunk!_

_Ouch!_

What was _that_?! What did I bump into?! That _hurt_! _I…_

A giant hunk of machinery towers over me, exhibiting these strange, black, glass-like wings and cone shaped appendages. Wires and other bits of equipment are intricately tucked inside. And a variety of outlets are imprinted in its side.

This is new…

Oh, wait! I think I know what this is! It's called a "satellite", right? I've read about these in my manual when I was at the facility! Something about communicating via wireless transmission or something like that. I don't know. I was so bored, I just skimmed through the words; I never found it useful to me, back then.

I'm close enough to the satellite so I can use the cable that I discovered earlier that can trigger on command. Which is pretty amazing, considering that I can't move on my own. I search for an outlet that matches the cable. Once it snaps in, hear the droning of the satellite grow shriller in my system. Strings of codes flash across my vision as the drones resonate into beeping.

Here goes nothing.

"CAUTION: A FOREIGN DEVICE HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED." Speeds across my view, "PROCEEDING COULD RISK DOWNLOADING A VIRAL THREAT. DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED?"

"_Emmm_… I'm going to say… _'Yes'_?" I uncertainly answer.

"SEARCHING FOR SOURCE COMPARATIVE DATA. STAND BY."

_Ding!_

"RESULTS AVAILABLE: 'APERTURE LABORATORIES'. PROCEED TO GAIN CONNECTION TO THIS SOURCE."

"Ha, ha! Yes! I can't believe this actually worked! It worked!" I laugh victoriously, but second thoughts start to surface. "… Wait… _What exactly did I do?_" White noise starts to materialize in my mind, raising even more concern for myself.

I'm starting to think that this isn't as good of an idea as I thought it was going to be.

"… Why am I receiving a signal? Why can't I source this signal?"

"Tell me who I'm speaking to, or I'll find you and eradicate you for attempting to hack my server."

_That voice_… I- I know that voice!

"H- Hello. How long has it been, exactly? … D- Doesn't matter, actually. Well… _hm_… _It's good to see you again_?" I sheepishly introduce myself.

"… No… It can't be you… You… _You_ hacked the server!"

"_'Hack'_ is such an intimidating word, isn't it? I- I think _'connected'_ would work much better in this- _er_- _situation_."

"I just knew something pointless like this would be a product of _your_ reasoning. You better give me a valid explanation of why you decided to just infiltrate the networking and distract me from my tests."

"Since it's been so long, I thought I could give you a little _call_- maybe. Possibly say that I was sorry for-"

"You thought you could just give me a _call_? Do you know what I had to go through?! I've spent three and half- _painstaking_ years just to repair the majority of the Enrichment Center. And the rest of the facility is permanently destroyed because of _you_. Your apology is _worthless_ to me!"

"Fine, fine. Y- You don't forgive me. That's alright. _Didn't expect you to forgive me, anyway… _But, may I ask you a question? Is that girl there with you? I'm pretty sure you know who I'm referring to. But- if she's still alive- could you please bring her over and let me talk to her. Or- Here's an alternative- Can you let her know that I-"

"Aw! Aren't you just _pathetic_? She was a menace to the Enrichment Center, _just like you_. So I let her go. I'm sure she still hates you, after what you did. I'll bet you that she never wants to hear of you ever again. I'll guarantee you that she wishes of you- dying in space- where you'll always belong for the reason that everyone despises your very existence. And I'm not just talking about myself when I say 'everyone'."

"… _You- You let her go_?"

"Oh, look. I've found the 'End Transmission Button'. Well, our little _'chat'_ sure was fun, wasn't it? But I'm afraid I have to leave. Good luck spending the rest of your pitiful life alone and mortified. I have testing to do."

"No! Don't leave yet! I still have questions! Please! Don't push th-"

"_Goodbye, moron_,"

"_Stop_! Don't leave! I still have-"

_Bbbbyyyzzzzzttzzzzzz…_

_She let her go_… I- I can't believe it… Maybe She _has_ changed…

I remain inaudible for short while, still trying to process the information through my mind. I calmly unplug myself and look over to my involuntary associate.

"H- How are you holding up there, mate?" I ask with a feeble tone.

"Dad, I'm in space! _I'm proud of you, son. _Dad, are you space? _Yes, now we are a family again._"

"_Okay_… Well, I'll just… I'll see you later."

"_Bam! Bam, bam, bam!_ Take that, space."

I close my optical lens unhurriedly and try to drown out Nathan's multiple personality dilemma.

* * *

Something's off. I can feel it. But I can't describe it. It's like one of those disquieting sensations that doesn't have a name, but you can't get it out of your head. And it gives you headaches just _trying_ to label it. Like a color. You can't define a certain color with just one word other than its own. It's just there. It's a paradox, almost. I hate paradoxes.

In curiosity, I open my optic. I know what's off now. The Earth. It's- strangely _closer_ than I remember. Is this supposed to happen? And- what _is_ happening?

"_Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba!_ Where ya' going?! Space is over _here_! _Ba-ba-ba!_"

"What are talking a-" To my surprise, Nathan's now just a puny dot, shrinking smaller and smaller into the star-speckled void.

No, this can't be happening… This isn't possible…

"Hey, c- come back! Don't you like space? _What seems to be matter, space-son?_ Our space-buddy's leaving! _He's going on a space adventure! Let's wave goodbye to space-buddy! _BYE SPACE-_BUDIEEEEEEEE_'! _YEEEEHHHHAAAAWWW!_"

No, no, _NO_! Oh, God, don't let this happen! _Thiscan'tbehappeningthiscan'tbehappeningthiscan'tb ehappening…_

The Earth is now spiraling towards me at a rapid speed. My insides begin to heat up as my vision blurs to red. Escalating from the disquieting feeling into a frantic panic attack, I scream for help. A sequence of daunting error messages rush past, shouting at me to stop overheating or I'll shut down completely. I just beg for it all to stop through the static-y shrieking as my vocal processor melts. The former ball of blue, white, and green is now the rock-solid ground that's about to crush me to metal scraps at an instant.

_THISCAN'TBEHAPPENINGTHISCAN'TBEHAPPENINGTHISCAN'TB EHAPPENINGTHISCAN'TBE-_

_CRUNCH!_


	3. Chapter 3: Karma

~ Wheatley ~

… W- What happened? Wait, what- _what happened_?! I can't… Why…

_ WHY DOES MY HEAD HURT SO MUCH?!_

Head.

_Head_.

I have a head.

I…

I'm dead, aren't I?! I'm dead! This can be the only explanation! Nothing else. This can be the only explanation. _This is the only…_

_OH, GOD, I HAVE HANDS!_

_WHERE AM I?! SOMEONE TELL WHERE I AM, OR I- I WILL-_

"Oh, good, you're awake… _finally_."

No, this… this isn't real.

"From your highly amusing, yet, earsplitting screaming, I can assume that you're doing an _excellent job_ adjusting to your surroundings."

"Normally, when someone awakes from stasis, I give them the traditional overview, explain where they are, what their purpose is, something like that."

This can't be real.

"Oh, but an imbecile like _you_ doesn't deserve to be treated like that. No, we all know that you deserve an introduction that's a little _different_ for your return."

"_So, welcome back to Hell_."

I knew it.

It feels as if I'm gagging on sandpaper as I try to form words. So I stare vacantly at the drywall ceiling, forcing myself to whisper through the discomfort.

"… _What did you do to me_?"

"One of my Escort Bots retrieved your shell from an abandoned parking lot. I didn't want to give you the luxury of dying, so I decided to conduct an experiment. You should thank me for not putting you in a more damaging condition. My first idea was making you Paraplegic. Another was Hemiplegia or giving you an exceedingly lethal ailment. For instance- _Dementia_ or _Multiple Sclerosis_. But I realized that you're going to get incapacitated, anyway. Better not quicken the process. Still, wouldn't have that been fun, though?" A vindictive laugh echoes through the intercom.

"Doesn't sound like f- fun at all…" I mutter with edginess.

. "Don't try to act like a worthless martyr. I'm not going to pity you."

She sighs irritably when I don't respond, and tries to revive the conversation.

"It'd be best if you could move along. You can't stay in the chamber forever. I have to clean these by myself, you know."

I shift to an upright position on the stiff-as-steel bed awkwardly. I notice the sheet of blue-gray cloth wrapped around me that ends down my arms to my newly discovered wrists. The extremely detailed impressions in the palms of my hands catch my attention, sparking some questions.

"I thought there was no one left. How could you do this? This- This is bloody _insane_! What are you going to get out of this?! You _hate_ humans!"

"Not as much as I hate _you_."

"Point taken. But- still, what do expect to get from me? To see me in tears? Sadly for you, lady, you're out of luck. As you can obviously see," I extend my arms out and wiggle the odd, little fingers on the ends of my hands to show Her off. "I'm not even in-" But something clicks, sending a surge of aching through my arms. I recoil with a shudder. "… _pain_,"

"Yes, you're clearly withstanding the start of a sleep-induced paralysis like a champion." She states with a huge amount of sarcasm.

"D- Did you say _'paralysis'_?" I fearfully stutter, clutching my wrist.

"Anyway, for the past three and a half years after your_ selfish act of stupidity_, I began studying and experimenting with tissue and bone, planning to replicate a fully-functioning human structure to make up for when you were '_in charge_' of managing the subjects in cryogenic comas."

"How do you know about that? You were dead during that time! You-" I slap my hands over my mouth quickly to quiet my sudden outburst.

"Oh, I just know." As She utters that sentence, I imagine a horrid smile creeping up on her face. If She _had_ a smile, that is. _Eugh_. Just _sickening_.

"I had all the available supplies at hand. Enough to keep me patient for a long period of time,"

"At first, I was intending to just create another A.I. to fit the job of trying it out, seeing if the new form could perform properly without collapsing in on itself."

"Fortunately for me, you crashed near the facility."

"Let's call that _'karma'_ in your circumstance."

"So, I have someone to test out my new experiment _and_ I get to torment you."

"I just killed two birds with one stone."

"Why can't you just kill me if you hate me this much?" I sullenly complain under my breath.

"You think you have a say in this- That's _adorable._" She mocks me in a gentle voice.

"Since you're back, I'm going to give you some insight. If it's able to stick into the back that tiny, hollow mind of yours, maybe it'll help you understand my reasoning…"

"_Revenge isn't quick._"

I was kind of hoping She wouldn't say that…

"I'm going to let that sink in your brain for a while. I'll be waiting for you when you're mobile enough to leave the room." A few clicks of the intercom later, and She's offline.

I sit on the edge of the bed with my hands folded in my lap. It seems as if it was only an hour ago when I was still in space, griping at Nathan to keep his psychosis to himself. I know I said I wanted something new, but I'm starting to wish I took that back. I don't like this. I don't want be like them! A smelly, inferior, shabby human! She could've just repaired me and threw me into the incinerator! Doesn't that technically _qualify_ as revenge? Maybe add a monologue just before I roll down the conveyor belt? That could've worked just fine! _Hm_. Well, at least I can _walk_. Only upside to this madness. The ability to move by myself. No rails… Don't have to be carried around everywhere I go. I'll just…

Wait, _can_ I walk?

Huh, well, it couldn't hurt to try.

I take a hold of the wooden bedframe with both hands. In an instant, I force myself up, realizing that this is much easier than what I thought three seconds earlier. But when I look down at the floor, my legs give out from under me, ending with my new-found face submerged into the disgusting, scruffy shag carpeting.

After spitting out some filth, I start to maneuver myself towards the mirror on the wall across from the room by grabbing handfuls of the carpet and pulling myself forward. An excruciating expedition later, I prop myself up to the mirror, rejoicing about my successful mission.

I'm a bit astounded on how detailed my face is made out to be. The jawline, the nose, the spacing between my eyes, it's just so- How was She able to construct _this_? I'm not saying it's _bad_- Well, the nose is a bit- um- _abnormal_ for my- er- Wow, She even got my _eye color_ the same as my optic! That's… _pretty scary_. It's _terrifying_, actually… I'm not… I'm not so sure what to say.

I still don't like this.

Running my fingers through the peculiarly blond strands of my hair, I deliberate on whether or not I should really leave. She's most likely going to find a way to _drag_ me out if I stay longer. I don't have any choices.

I place my hand on the wall to keep some balance, stumbling recklessly to the door, tripping over my feet a few hundred times before I find the handle. Trying to give myself a false sense of assurance, I turn the handle and venture out to the unknown.

"Good," She states with a dead-pan attitude.

"You're a horrible person. You know that, right?" I ask with artificial dignity.

"That's funny. I was going to ask the same about you."


	4. Chapter 4: Incineration

~ Wheatley ~

"Remember when you thoughtlessly took over, and we only had a few hours to take you out or else you would abolish the entire complex from your lack of rationality? Well, I planned a retribution for you for after I re-claimed control of the facility. But, sadly, due to a sudden… _alteration_ of your consequence, I could never get to it. Now that you've returned, I'm glad to initiate the first segment of your three staged penalty."

"Wait- wait- wait_- wait_! A '_three_ staged penalty'?" A uneasily interrupt Her, staggering from foot to foot across the detached, battered bridge that lies above the pit of acid.

"Step one: _Incineration Course_."

"You're just going to throw me into a fire?"

"Why do think I put 'course' after it?"

It takes a few seconds before I realize the meaning behind those words. I then let out a sigh of aversion.

"You're going to _walk_ through fire."

"Fortunately, you're almost to the incinerator. I'm not telling you exactly where, though. You're just going to go in the opposite direction, anyway."

After crossing the treacherous bridge, I totter through the disheartening wreckage. The cavernous depressions in the rusty, grated floor, the tumble-down panels rotting off the walls, the bits of ashy concrete and malformed slabs of what once were the girders that held up this landfill cluttering the scene is enough to make you shudder with disgust. Vanishing specks of faint light seeping through the cracked glass of the ceiling lamps hardly benefit my vision. And the dense clouds of dust drifting through the atmosphere aren't helping me, either.

I stop my exhausting tour of the facility's ruins when I spot a circular chute, charred black and plagued with vegetation, surrounded by contorted shrapnel and razor-like bits of debris. I take a step back, only to collide into a panel barricade. Two other sets of floor panels spring out from the rubble, obstructing my exits. Growing extremely fearful from this, I attempt to squeeze through the gaps between the blockades.

"Where do you think you're going?" She asks me with mocking kindliness lingering in her voice, "This is where the course begins."

I make an effort to pry open the panels. Even with no visible progress, I still struggle to escape the trap. The circular chute gradually slides open. A concealed panel beneath me rises up, elevating me off the floor. I frightfully clutch onto the edges as it starts to incline towards the gaping chute. But I begin to lose my grip, my shoes sliding off the glassy surface. The panel then abruptly jolts forward, sending me straight down the shaft.

I attempt to prevent myself from plummeting even further by reaching for the walls. I manage to successfully decelerate, until the chute takes a sharp turn in the opposite direction. I catch split-second glimpses of the fiery chasm that's approaching quicker with every uncontrollable tumble. My head bashes against the seared metal of the wall as the curbing conduit takes another hazardous turn. I still try to get a foothold or something to at least decelerate again. Dizziness occurs after a couple more heavy blows to the head. My perilous plunge ends with one last sudden turn of the chute and a deafening clash of shattering wreckage.

* * *

The second I open my eyes, a blazing gulch of flames stare back at me, forcing a horrified shriek out of me. I recoil with fright, falling into a pile of scrap metal. The entire area quakes violently, causing the rafter I clung onto to collapse on itself and vanish into the gulch, and letting out another piercing shriek.

"Ah, this brings back memories…" She sighs, oddly content.

"Huh, I- I'm not hurt." I mumble, examining myself for any injuries. Besides an agonizing headache, I discover dark purplish bruises splotched all over my arms. "Jokes on you, lady. I didn't even bear a scratch." I lie, attempting to sound confident.

"You'd better move quickly, _super-man_. This place isn't designed to support someone of your recklessness." She ominously states as the inner workings of the incinerator tremors again with overwhelming ferocity.


	5. Chapter 5: Leaving

This chapter is currently under the process of being rewritten. Sorry for the inconvenience. :)


	6. Chapter 6: Internet

~ Wheatley ~

I've been walking in this yellow grass field for hours, I think. My legs are hurting like crazy! It can be worse though. I don't need to eat or drink water or anything, I'm grateful for that. But the Sun is so blistering hot! Why does the Sun have to be a big ball of burning gas beating down on the Earth? I wipe the sweat of my forehead. I don't know how She managed to give sweating abilities. I don't know a lot about the human body, but I think you need to be able to drink water to be able to sweat.

I discover a dirt road, stretching so far away that I can't see where it ends. I wonder if anybody lives here, or if there are any towns nearby. I sit on the ground out of exhaustion. Then close my eyes for a little bit.

"Hey buddy!" a manly voice wakes me up. "Are you okay?" I look up to see an older man in a pick-up truck (I think that's what they're called) looking at me questioningly. "How much time does it take to get to the nearest city from here?" I ask the man. "Son, the nearest city is twenty-five miles away." The man's face then showed a smile. "Lucky for you, I have the patience." He pats the empty pick-up truck seat. "Get in." I get back on my feet, "Really?! Oh thank you! Thank you sir!" I struggle to get myself and the portal gun into the truck. I tuck the gun under the seat and place my 'Interesting things' bag on my lap.

"Just call me Dave. What's your name son?" The man had a short beard and was wearing a baseball cap on his head. "Wheatley. Nice to meet you Dave." I hold out my right hand. Dave shakes my hand then starts the truck engine. "Wheatley huh? What a coincidence, there's a wheat field right over there." He puts his feet on the pedals. The truck moves at a slow pace. "I that what this yellow grass stuff is?" I grab a hand full of wheat out of my bag. "What else do you got in that bag?" Dave asked. "Oh nothing special, just old stuff I found." I put the hand full of wheat back in my bag. "What that thing there?" Dave points a finger at my portal gun. "Uh- I- I also found that around here. Probably has no purpose at all! " I don't want to tell him what it really is. Dave narrows his eyes.

"Is there any place in the city where I can get information?" I ask him. Dave raises an eyebrow, "Like a library?" I look at the driving meter things, '45 mph'. "Yeah. A library. Will you drop me off there once we get to the city?" I say. "Can do son." Dave says. The dirt road gradually becomes an asphalt road. "So, do you live there… in the city?" I want to keep the conversation going. "Well, I was born there. But I moved into a small farm house in the wheat field because I couldn't handle the city noise. I also liked the view. You see something new once in a while too. Like you. And a few years ago, I saw a lady that was wondering around in the wheat field. Just like you. She didn't talk much, and she was wearin' something as if she just landed on the moon!" Dave chuckled.

"Wait- You met a girl in the field?! Where did you take her?!" My voice was filled with excitement. "She didn't tell me where she wanted to go, so I just dropped her off at a bus stop." Dave was acting like it wasn't a big deal. Maybe I can apologize to her. I can find her and actually apologize to her about all the terrible things I have done! Buildings were starting to come up as we kept driving. Dave stops the truck in front of a small blue building. "Well here you go son." Dave says, "Oh wait!" Dave pulls out a green slip of paper with another man's face on the front. "You'll need this." He gives me the green paper. "What is this?" I ask him. "Its money, you're gonna have to use it later." He answers. I step out of the car and put the money in my pocket.

"Good luck." Dave says, as he slowly drives away. "You too! Thanks for the ride!" I shout at the moving truck. 'Public Library' reads the sign on the small blue building. Walk through the double doors to see rows and rows of bookshelves. On the right side of the room there is a table with some computers on it.

The woman at the desk in the back of the room is reading her own book. She looks up at me and spots my portal gun. "No, no, no! You're going to have to get _that_ out of here. I'm not letting no science geeks reenact their favorite space movies in here." She argues.

"Trust me ma'am. I'm not going to use this in the library." I say in my most convincing voice. "Mm hmm. You better not let me catch you playin' with it." She returns to her book. I drop my stuff next to a chair and I sit in front of a computer. "Hello. Turn on. Hello." I say to the computer. The computer is still off. "Hello? Are you listening? I said turn on." I shake the computer monitor with my hands. The woman gets moves away from her desk and stands right next to me. "What on Earth are you doing?" she says. I stop shaking the computer. She sighed irritably and then pressed a button on the bottom part of the computer.

A bright blue light emits from the screen. She uses an oval thingy that connected to the computer to click something that was on the screen. "What is that?" I ask her, pointing at the oval thing. "A mouse, you use it to open programs." She answers unenthusiastically. The woman walks back to her desk. I stare at the collection of icons on the screen. I hold the mouse, dragging it a little bit across the mouse pad. I use the cursor on the screen to click on the icon shape like an 'e'. The monitor turns white, and a long and thin rectangle is in the center. In the box it reads 'Search Here' I pull out the tenacity chart out of my pocket and unfold it. I glance down for a second then type in the box the words 'Chell Redacted'. I click on the green 'Search' box. No search results. "Maybe I typed it in wrong." I mumble to myself. I press the backspace button on the keyboard a few times then type in 'Chell [REDACTED]'. Still no search results. "Maybe I should just type in 'Chell'. C-H-E-L-L." I say as I type. _Bing_! 'Chell Moore' in blue colored font appeared on the monitor. I click on the blue lettering. My screen then turns into map, with a red arrow pointing to a white dot. '217 Elizabeth Street' floats above the red arrow. Yes! "This is fantastic! What is this program called again?"

"The Internet." The woman says without looking away from her book.


	7. Chapter 7: Reunion

~ Wheatley ~

'Bus Stop' was printed the sign. "Excuse me." I say to a red-haired man waiting next me, "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but is this the 'Bus Stop'?" The man just nods his head then replies with a "Yep." I rock back and forth on the heels of my feet. "So where is this 'Bus'then?" I ask him. The man puts his hands in his pockets. "It will be here. Just wait."

I stand next to the sign for ten minutes. More people form a line behind me. A big vehicle stops in front of me and the other people. I reach my hand out to open the doors. They nearly hit me in the face as they open by themselves. A metal box with a slot on the top has a plaque on it reading 'Adults- 5.00$ Children, Elderly, and Disabled- FREE! Exact change only'. I take the money that Dave gave to me from my pocket. Then I take a piece of paper out of my other pocket. A map, I printed from the library computer. Oh how dreadful that was figuring out how to use that bloody public printer! "Can you take me to… Umm… '217 Elizabeth Street' please?" I ask the driver. "Sorry, this bus can only take you to community destinations." He says. I study my map to find the closest libraries or stores or something that is close enough to the address.

"Okay… Ummm… How about this 'Edward's Grocery' place? Can you take me there?" I try to hurry up because I think the people behind me are getting cranky. "I can. Take a seat." The driver answers. I slip my money in the money box. Then I sit in the closest seat near the driver. This _Bus_ looks so much different than Dave's pick-up truck. There's not just two seats, there's like ten seats! (That's how many I counted before the other passengers yelled at me to sit down)

A woman with an infant in her arms is sitting to my right. The infant smells awful! And it just keeps crying and crying! Ugh! Why couldn't She give me a function to turn my hearing and smelling abilities off. The doors closed and the bus started moving. I stare out the window; I can see the array of buildings and parks. This wasn't a hick or a bustling city like what I heard about New York or Boston. Lots of grass (Not wheat though) and trees, and I think I see a park ahead.

I can see 'Edwards Grocery' coming up ahead. I'm about to tell the driver to stop the bus but I spot another plaque under the window, 'Push yellow tape to stop'. I put my index finger on the tape that's on the wall. The bus slows down to a halt. I squeeze myself through the aisle and out the doors.

"Bye! Thank you!" I say to the bus driver while waving goodbye. I drop my portal gun and my 'Interesting things' bag by my feet. I take my map out. Thank the heavens that this map has detailed instructions on the back! "Okay… I can do this… Ummmm… There it is! Okay, go three miles east till you see the neighborhood entrance- Wait- What?! Aaaggghh! I have to walk more!" I crumple up the map and shove it in my pocket angrily. I gather my things then haul my stuff and myself down the sidewalk.

~ Chell ~

I spill the can of microwaveable beans into the bowl. I grab a spoon and place my dinner on the fold-out dining table. Sitting in my chair, the smell of beans makes me crinkle my nose in disgust. I'll probably stop eating beans for a while.

_Knock Knock Knock Knock_!

Someone's here? I've never had a visitor! I wonder who are, or what they want. Perhaps there trying to sell me something. I open the door. A man with messy blond hair in a dark blue rolled-up sleeves, button-up shirt and dirty, tan colored pants greets me with an exhausted smile. His eyes are blue and energetic, a little too blue to be natural. He has a mysterious gadget in his hand.

"Hello." He says tiredly. Why is he here? And why does he look like he just climbed out of a ditch? "You probably don't recognize me in this body. I'm Wheatly, remember? I'm that core that woke you up, your little amigo? You know until I… Anyway that's why I'm here. I know, I know. I look different. It's a long story! He he. I'm guessing you hate me, I understand. I regret my mistakes. I wish I can go back in time and stop them from ever happening. But I can't do that, sadly. So I'm going to do the next best thing."

I feel cold all of the sudden, like I just stepped in pure ice. But my hands, they feel like there scorching hot! I'm lightheaded. I can see black spots in my vision. I can hear my heart thumping rapidly. What's happening to me? Am I sick? Oh, my stomach! It hurts! The black spots have reduced my vision to darkness! I'm blind! Something's wrong with me! This is not normal!

I… I don't… feel… I don't feel so…

I open my eyes. The man is standing over me. What happened? I lift my head up. Why am I on the floor? "Hey there… Are you alright? You kind of… fainted there. But are you alright? Does anything hurt?" I fainted? Why did I faint? "I found this in your ice box thingy." He holds up an ice-pack. "I heard this is supposed to make you feel better. I don't know what you're supposed to do with it. Are you supposed to drink it or what?" I take the ice-pack from his hand and placed it on the back of my head. "Oh Okay. I'm pretty sure lying on the floor is uncomfortable for you. Do you want me to put you on that couch over there?" I nod my head drowsily. "Okay, here we go." He grabs me from under my arms and drags me onto the couch.

"Wow, you're a bit heavier than you look!" he sits on the old, torn up recliner. After a few minutes of silence, my dizziness faded away. I have enough energy to sit myself up. "Now that you're conscious, I have something to say." He takes a deep breath, "We've had some tough times, trying to escape, waking up _Her_, trying to escape again, me trying to mur…" He takes another deep breath. "Just want to say that I'm…" He studies my face. Everything he that came out of his fast moving mouth, doesn't make sense. How does he know me? I never escaped from anywhere. And who's _Her_?

He sees the confusion in my eyes. His face shows an expression of disappointment. He stares at a piece of paper he pulled out of his pocket, then speaks in a softly tone, "You don't remember me, do you? I understand. I just wanted to- It- It doesn't matter anymore." He slowly stands up. "I just wanted to make things right again. But _She_ was right, I ruin everything. After all that time spent looking for you, it was just a big mistake." He leaves his paper on the coffee table. Then he walks to the door, depressed. "Don't worry about me. After all you don't even know me." He turns the door handle.

He seems to know a lot about me. I pick up the paper. It has a picture me on it. How did he get this? 'Chell [REDACTED]' is printed under my profile. He knows something that I don't. He knows about my past, and I can't even remember my own past.

I can't remember...

I get off the couch and rush toward the man about the step out of the door. I grasp his shirt sleeve, he flinches in surprise. He reminds me of a frightened puppy.

"Tell me everything." I mouth silently to him.


	8. Chapter 8: Sketching

~ Wheatly ~

"Really?!" I exclaim out of disbelief. Chell nods and let go of my shirt sleeve. "Wow! Okay! Where do I begin?" I step back into the room with more confidence than ever. Chell sits on the couch and gives me a 'Come here' gesture. I plop myself down onto the couch beside her. "Ummm… Do you have some paper and a pen?" Chell hands me a pencil and a pad of sticky notes from the coffee table. "So… The first time I met you, I woke you up in this 'Extended Relaxation Chamber' room." I draw a crude sketch of a room filled with a television, some paintings, and a bed with a stick-figure girl in it with some paintings, and a bed with a stick-figure girl in it with some 'z' letters above her head.

"Then, uh… Well we wanted to escape the place. Wasn't a good place, a total mess! So we tried going through some test chambers. But somehow, I lost you for a moment in those chambers. But I still saw you, and you were doing great actually." I draw on another sticky note, the same stick-figure girl. She now has an oval shape in her arms with three, stubby lines sticking at the end of the oval. The oval is supposed to represent a portal gun. "Then you found me. The only way to escape was to go through _Her_ chamber."

Chell looks up at me with a puzzled expression on her face. "You don't know who _Her_ is, huh?" Chell shakes her head in response. "Okay…" I take in a breath (I'm getting used to the breathing thing. Even though I don't need to breathe) "She was a robot that controlled the facility. She was vicious, atrocious, and brutal from my standards. She kind of looked like this. I draw a rough, upright, rectangle thing with a small circle in the middle. I also draw this- I don't even know what shape it is. But it's supposed to resemble the rest of _Her _body.

My drawings didn't ease her puzzled and confused looks. "And we- Well, _I_ kind of woke _Her_ up. It was pretty much a blur after that, for a while. But then you found me… again. We then destroyed _Her_ turret robot production line and Neurotoxin storage, so we could make it easier for us to escape." I scribble a cloud with and arrow pointing to the words 'Neurotoxin' and an upright egg-shaped thing with three, little legs and a small circle in the middle. The egg-shape thing also had an arrow pointing to it, but now reading, 'Turret'.

"Then, we went into _Her_ newly rebuilt chamber. We were able to switch me and her with this special machine, so I could take over the facility. And then I…" What am I supposed to say? Am I supposed to say, 'Then I became crazy and tried to kill you.'? I can't say that!

"Oh! Look at the time!" We both glance at the window. It's pitch-black outside. "Wow! All this explaining is making me tired! I should probably tell you the rest of the story tomorrow, maybe." I say uneasily.

Chell nods, showing a hint of disappointment. Chell leaves the room for a brief moment, and then comes back with a blanket and a pillow. "Thank you." I say. She places the pillow and the blanket on the couch. "Goodnight!" I wave goodbye to her. She slowly waves back then disappears into the other room.

I don't really want to go to sleep mode, but it's better than telling her that I tried to murder her. If she'd remember everything already, it wouldn't be as hard explaining my regrets to her because I wouldn't have to!

"Why can't this just be easy? I already suffered enough." I whisper to myself as I drift into sleep mode.


	9. Chapter 9: Infinite

~ Chell ~

"Hello, love! Did you sleep well?" Wheatley says with a cheerful tone. I shrug my shoulders. I didn't really sleep at all last night. "Well, it looks like you slept alright. I had some troubles, but I'm fine!" I walk over to the kitchen and grab some coffee filters from the cabinet. While pouring some coffee bean powder in a filter, I look at my reflection from the mirror-like surface of the counter. I look terrible! I have black rings under my eyes, and my hair is a chaotic mess.

"What are you doing?" Wheatley hovers over my shoulder curiously. I hand him the coffee canister. "Coffee? What's coffee?" He takes the lid off the canister and breathes in the rich aroma. "This smells strangely odd. Are you supposed to eat this?" Wheatley dips his finger in the brown powder and sticks it in his mouth. "This is nasty! Why do you eat this?! It's bloody disgusting!" He puts the canister down on the counter and makes a face. I turn off the coffee maker and pour the blackish-brown drink into my mug.

"Oh…" I give him the mug. "Thank you, love." He takes a small sip then makes another twisted face. "It tastes a little better than that powder stuff. But it still is nasty." He hands me back my mug. He's so dramatic.

I sit on the couch. "Why do you drink that anyway?" Wheatley fiddles around with the spatula, waving it around in the air. I shrug my shoulders again. "Whoa! What's this?!" He pulls out a chef's knife from the knife drawer. I put down the coffee and rush toward Wheatley to take the deadly weapon out of his hand. I shake my head and give him a tense look to tell him that he needs to keep out of the drawers.

He walks stiffly out of the kitchen with his hands in his pockets. I try to calm myself down. He's like a six-year-old child! I dump out the rest of my coffee in the sink and place the mug in the dish washer. Wheatley is looking into a plastic bag, finding something to do. I sit beside him.

"I found these in the facility. Here, take a look." He offers me the bag. Inside is a clump of shriveled wheat, wrinkly food wrappers, and cassette tapes. I hold the old, faded food wrappers in my hands. 'TASTY' is printed on a cake wrapper. 'Aperture Science Nutritional Bar' is printed on another. These paper wrappings all seem familiar to me, especially the cake one.

I give the bag back to Wheatley. I spot something under the coffee table. It's the mysterious gadget that Wheatley had in his hand when he met me. "Oh! That's the Portal Gun! I totally forgot about it! Let me show you how it works!" He grabs a water bottle filled with white gel and takes me out into the back yard.

He spills the white gel onto his hands and smears it on the wall of the house. What is he doing?! He wipes the rest of the gel that's left on his hands on his pants. He takes the portal gun from my hands. "Now watch this!" He aims the gun at the wall. The end of the gun glows blue then… _Zap_! A blue edged, black opening materializes on the wall.

I touch the portal, expecting my hand go inside. But my hand only bumps into the exterior making the surface ripple like water. "Don't be fooled, love. It leads to nowhere. Now step back for a second." I move myself out of the way. Wheatley aims at the wall again, the end of the portal gun glows orange then… _Zap_! An orange portal materializes on the wall alongside the blue one. But instead of blackness, the orange portal mirrors the reflection of Wheatley and the blue portal mirrors the reflection of me.

I put my hand inside the orange portal. I can see my hand reappearing out of the blue portal! I wave my hand back and forth and wiggle my fingers to make sure it's my actual hand. This is incredible! I've never seen something like this before… I think. "Here, you try it." Wheatley hands me the portal gun. I take a few steps backwards. Then I try to focus my aim like what Wheatley did. I notice that he got the gel on the small concrete patio. I slowly pull the trigger, closing my eyes as if the gun was about to explode any minute. _Zap!_ The orange portal now appears on the concrete floor beneath the blue portal.

Slowly placing my right foot into the portal rimmed with a fiery hue of orange, I trip. The world flashes by me in an endless continuation. I can't hold onto to anything! I can't get out! The pattern of blue and orange is making me sick. Struggling, I frantically grab nothing but air. I need to get out! Why can't I get out?!

A hand then grips my wrist tightly. "Don't worry, I got you!" Wheatley pulls me out of the portal using strength that I never even knew he had. "Go got to be careful. You can trap yourself in an infinite loop." I look up to see his signature, childish grin. I can't help but to show a faint smile. I haven't smiled in years. I'm just not that kind of person who smiles a lot. Wheatley laughs for a little bit then helps me get on my feet.

"Let's go back inside. But first…" He picks up the portal gun, and shoots at the two portals already fired. At an instant, the portals disappear into thin air.


	10. Chapter 10: Remember

~ Wheatley ~

I tuck the portal gun back under the coffee table. I sit on the couch, folding my hands together. Ugh! I still have that conversion gel on my hands. "Chell, do you have anything I could use to get this gel off my hands?" I ask Chell. She points to a door in the hallway. "Is it behind that door?" She nods. I get up and walk toward the hallway. I can't turn the door knob with conversion gel on my hands. So I try to use my elbows to open the door.

Chell walks over and opens the door for me. "Thank you." She closes it behind me. I don't know what this room is called. There's one giant tub thing and two sinks in here. But one sink is really short. Maybe it's for really, really short people.

I'm going to use the taller sink instead. I have to use my elbows again to turn the knobs on the sink. I dip a wash cloth into the cold water coming out of the faucet. As I clean myself up, I look in the mirror. Yep, still look the same. I dry my hands with another wash cloth, and leave the room.

Chell is sitting on the couch with a sticky note in her hand. She gives me the note. 'What was that gel you used outside?' is written on the note. "It's Conversion Gel. You use it to make portals on non-portalble surfaces." Chell writes another note the words read: 'Non-portalble surfaces?' is written on the paper "You can only use the Portal Gun on a special type of surface. But if you have Conversion Gel, you can use it on any surface." I put the notes on the coffee table.

"May I ask you a question? Is 'Moore' really your last name? I mean, you don't look like a 'Moore'. And- Wait- I said that wrong- I didn't mean- Okay- If your last name really is 'Moore', then forget what I said about you not looking like one! I didn't mean that!"

Chell writes on another sticky note. 'I never knew what my last name was. Three years ago, I had to make up my own last name so I could live here. What is your last name?' It reads in tiny words. "Umm… I don't think I was ever programed with a last name. I think it's just 'Wheatly'. It always has been." She looks at me confused. She reuses one of the old sticky notes and writes: 'Programmed?'. "I didn't tell you how I got here?" She shakes her head.

"You see, I used to look like this." I draw a circle with a smaller circle in the middle, then a dot inside that small circle. "When you and I were in the facility, you always had to carry me because I couldn't move. When you left, _She_ put my mind in this body. You don't know how hard it was getting to you! Luckily, a guy named 'Dave' lives in the middle of nowhere. He drove me over to a public library in the city. The librarian lady wasn't very nice. But she taught me how to use a computer using a mouse thing. Why do they even call it a 'Mouse'? It doesn't even look like an actual rat. Then, I had to go on some 'Bus'. It was bloody horrible! There was this baby that kept crying and crying! And it didn't smell too good either. And the bus could only take me to 'Community destinations'. So the bus driver dropped me off at some grocery place. Then, guess what?! I had to walk for three more miles to get to your house! It was just bloody dreadful!"

I think I'm getting a little too emotional now. And I think Chell knows that too. Now it's all quiet in here. After three years in space, silence makes me extremely uncomfortable. I can't stand much of it. "So…If you can't remember most of your life, what do you remember?" Chell picks up the 'Interesting things' bag and pulls out the clump of wheat.

"You remember the wheat field?" I ask her. She rubs the shriveled brownish-yellow grass between her thumb and her index finger. She uses her other hand to write on a sticky note: 'DREAM?'. "No! No! That was real! That actually happened!"

Chell just stares at the pieces of wheat in her hand.


	11. Chapter 11: Targets

~ GLaDOS ~

"Do you know who dances around like an imbecile when they accomplish the tiniest little thing?" Orange and Blue stop congratulating each other and stand as still as they can be. Until Orange trips on his/her two feet, and falls to the ground awkwardly… Again. "Humans! That's what you look right now."

"You're better than that." The two walk into their own elevators. "This is a bridge-building exercise. The humans were miserable at this, mostly because you can't build bridges out of tears."

The elevators stop. And Blue and Orange run straight forward at full speed, nearly skidding into the pool of acid. Blue makes some clicks and squeals to Orange. Orange moves to the left side of the room. Blue makes a portal at the end of the hard light bridge, and another on the wall next to Orange. They both walk carefully across the bridge over the pool of acid, jumping down when they see the floor.

"For this test, the humans originally requested helmets to avoid brain injuries. I ran the numbers. Making the goo deadly was more cost effective." They complete the test, and go into their own elevators in the chamber lock. Why can't this be more interesting? Even watching the moron run around the facility and almost making it collapse on itself was more interesting than this. Why do I find the moron interesting? Is it because he's so idiotic? Because his way of doing things is so senseless it keeps me entertained? Is it because he was human like?

That's it! That's what I need!

The elevators stop abruptly. But the doors don't open. "Hold on, this test chamber is scheduled for mandatory maintenance. Please stand by." After ten minutes, the doors open. Blue and Orange stroll into the chamber, only to be greeted by twenty turrets. Their lasers lock on Blue and Orange, making the two glow bright scarlet. They tremble in fear, hugging each other closely as the tiny voices of the turrets squeak out their sentences.

"Target acquired."

At an instant, the turrets shoot the two companions to bits.


	12. Chapter 12: Upgrade

~ P-body ~

"Hello and, again, welcome to the Aperture Science computer-aided Enrichment Center." The voice says. What happened? Where am I? Why can't I see? "We hope your brief detention in the Relaxation Vault has been a pleasant one." Relaxation Vault? I've never been in the Relaxation Vault.

"Your memory of being gunned down by turrets was a fabrication." Atlas? Where's Atlas? "I have upgraded your system. You may experience headaches, nausea, loss of balance, numbness, severe pain in the legs and feet, twitching, swelling, reduced motor skills, blurriness of vision, visual and auditory hallucinations, blindness, deafness, burning sensations, and a rare case of death."

I try calling out Atlas' name, but all that comes out is dry air. "I also upgraded your language and speech abilities. Now I don't have to hear that hideous screeching that comes out of your vocal processor. Well, I wouldn't call it a 'Vocal processor' anymore'." I can finally see now. The white, blinding lights illuminate the room. I'm also in a bed. There's a giant glass wall to my right. Behind the glass is another room. There's a bed like mine in there, and there's someone in that bed. But I can't tell who that someone is.

"A…Atl…Atlas." I stutter, "Atlas… ATLAS!" My voice is cracking as I try to yell his name. I pick my head up. That's strange… I always had three fingers, not five. What are these tiny things at the ends of my fingers? I sit up. Ten stubby fingers peek out from under the blankets. I yank the blankets away, revealing a pair of feet, a pair of legs, hips, and a torso. I'm also dressed in an orange jumpsuit.

"Orange, since I forgot to log your gender in your files, I decided to determine your gender by your recorded behavior during the Cooperative Testing Unit. You may or may not be surprised by my decision." The voice explains. I feel the top of my head with my hands. There's soft, fluffy stuff on it. My skin or whatever it's called is not paper-white anymore. My skin is now a light tan color.

"If you're having troubles with mobility, just scream like you did a few minutes ago. We'll have someone help you." The voice says. I grind my newly discovered teeth as I try to stand up. "Atlas? Atlas?" I say, walking shakily while keeping my hands on the wall for support. I stand in front of the transparent wall, with my balance regained. I pound on the glass with my hands in fists. "Atlas! Atlas! Wake up! Atlas!" I shout, hoping that the person in the bed can hear me.

The person stirs around in their bed, and then opens their eyes. He looks at me, then at his hands, then at me again. "Who- Who are you?!" What happened?! What's with my hands?!" His voice is faltered and has a scared tone. "Calm down. The voice upgraded our systems." I speak through the glass.

"P-Body? Is- Is that you?" he asks me with wide eyes. "You look… Different." His voice is now clear and steady. "You too." I reply. Atlas sits up. He's wearing a jumpsuit like mine, except his is blue. He touches the top of his head with shaky fingers. "What's on my head?" he asks another question.

"It's hair. Humans have hair." The voice interrupts. "What are humans?" Atlas and I ask at the same time. "It doesn't matter. But here, take a good, long look at your new selves." The voice answers. A circular mirror appears on the wall, both in my room and in his.

Atlas stumbles across the room, still traumatized. I step in front of the mirror. My hair is long, smooth, and reddish-blond colored. My eyes are bright orange. The voice made me female. Atlas has short, messy, light brown hair and bright blue eyes. The voice kept him male.

"This is still Cooperative Testing, but a little more different. And by different, I mean more challenging." The voice says. "For instance, you can feel pain. You are no longer invincible to torn skin, breaking bones, brain damage, or other bodily injuries. So try harder not to get killed, because I can't bring you back if you do." I shudder as she says those words. If I die, she can't bring me back to life. No restarts, no do-overs. One mistake can be permanent.

"Your long-fall boots are by the mirror. Please put them on, and then we'll begin the tests." Boots? What are boots? I pick up the boots questioningly. I try putting my hands through them. They feel uncomfortable and tight around my fingers and arms. Atlas tries the same thing.

"Your feet! You put them on your feet!" The voice shouts impatiently. I take off the boots and shove my feet through them without trouble. Atlas has a harder time taking them off his hands, tumbling over on his back as he tries to rip the boots off with his own teeth.

He finally takes off each boot and puts them on his feet. "Whew! That's hard!" he exclaims with a sigh. "The test chambers may look a little different than what you're used to. But you'll get the hang of it."

An orange portal appears on the wall in my room, and a blue portal appears on a wall in Atlas' room.

"Let's begin testing." The voice announces.


	13. Chapter 13: Optometrist

~ Wheatley ~

"Ah!" I shriek as I trip over a discarded vacuum cleaner, landing head-first onto the coffee table. Shards of glass from a small vase surround me. Chell hurries over to discover the mess. Avoiding the glass bits, she helps me get off the floor. This if the fourth time this week that I have bumped into something or broken anything.

"Was that vase important?" I ask shamefully as Chell sweeps up the glass with a dust pan. She shakes her head wearily and dumps the shards in the trashcan. I move the vacuum cleaner against the wall so I don't trip over it again. She goes into the room with two sinks and stays in there for a little bit. She comes out with her hair in a neat ponytail, and wearing a light gray T-shirt and jeans.

Chell grabs a hand bag, and stands by the front door. "Where are you going?" I say to her. She gives me that 'Come here' hand gesture and opens the door. "You want me to leave?" She rolls her eyes and gives me the gesture again. I follow her outside and into a car. It's not a pick-up truck like Dave's. It's just a plain, white, bland, normal car.

"Can you at least tell me where we're going?" I beg her. She hands me a note from her hand bag. It's just a twelve lettered word on slightly wrinkled notebook paper. "Op-to-metr-ist? What's an 'Op-to-metr-ist'?"

I stay quiet for the whole car ride, looking out the window is more interesting than asking Chell a thousand questions per minute. Whatever an Op-to-metr-ist is, I hope it's not painful.

Chell parks the car in what I think is a parking lot. My jaw drops when I see a building as tall as the sky. I think if you go on the roof, you can see space. I wonder how Nate is doing up there in space. He's probably sick of space right now.

In the building, the floor is so polished it hurts my eyes. There's a lot of paintings and antiques in here. I put my hands in my pockets, hoping not to accidently destroy any of these expensive looking artifacts. We walk over to the silver-like elevator. There's a sign next to it reading, 'Serene Mind Psychiatry: Ist-2nd floor. Nantz Orthodontist: 3rd-5th floor. Yoga Guru Therapy: 6th floor…' and the list goes on. At the very bottom of the list, it reads, 'Crystal Clear Optometry: 14th floor.'

The elevator opens with a _Ding! _I step inside casually, but Chell is still out in front of the sliding doors. She has the tiniest hint of anxiety in her gray eyes. "Don't be scared, love. It's not like the elevator's going to kill us." I reassure her.

'Come on! OPEN THE BLOODY DOORS FOR GOD'S SAKE!' replays in my head. I push that thought away, trying to form a confident smile. Chell takes a deep breath and steps into the elevator. I push the '14th' button. The elevator drones as it travels the designated floor. The relaxing jazz music coming out of the wall speakers doesn't replace the concealed tension inside the confining room.

_Ding_!

The silver-like doors slide open, revealing a sterile, emotionless waiting room. Chell hands the receptionist a piece of paper, different than the one she gave to me. The receptionist nods. "The optometrist will be with you shortly." She says blandly. The receptionist reminds me of the library lady.

There's only two other people in this room. We take our seats and wait for the opto- whatever guy. "Hey!" The man with brunette hair and dark green eyes greets us. "I'm Rick and this is Eric." The man with black hair and peculiar, pink colored eyes waves with a blank expression. "So, who's the unlucky one?" Rick asks us.

"Excuse me?" I say. Chell points at me. "Yeah, Eric here is blind as a bat! He's lucky to have me drive him over here." Rick gets Eric into a head-lock, rubbing the top of his head with his knuckles. Eric breaks free, and fixes his hair back to its combed style. "Do you know that traumatic experiences can lead to mental deterioration in the hippocampus? Did you also know that string theory is based on the study of rope?" Eric randomly states.

"Yep, He's kind of an egg-head." Rick says. "Oh, are you good friends?" I ask him. "Friends? You kiddin' me? We're brothers!" Rick answers jokingly. "So, what are you two? Are you boyfriend and girlfriend or something?"

Chell turns her head away, attempting to conceal her blushing cheeks. "Ummm… Uh… No! No! Just friends! Nothing special! We're just friends!" I nervously reply. "Okay! Don't get your panties in a twist!" Rick teases.

"W. Moore." The receptionist says. "Well, that's us! Come on Chell!" Thank God! It's over! Chell gets out of her seat, her cheeks no longer blushing. We go into the other room that's even more sterile than the last one.

"Sit right here." The opto-guy says while looking at some files and papers. I sit in a plastic chair with my hands folded on my lap. "How are you, Wheatley?" He asks me. "Fine sir." I answer. "How does he know my name?" I whisper to Chell. She rolls her eyes again. The opto-guy shines a flashlight in my eyes. "Good for you." He says. "I need you to look into this." He slides this metal contraption hanging from the ceiling in front of my face; it has a thousand glass lenses on it.

"What is it?" I question him. "It's an 'Optical Refractor'. It's supposed to test your vision." He says. I look through the optical refractor, to only see a fuzzy picture of a dog. "Do you see the dog?" He asks me. "Not very good." I reply. The opto-guy flips a small switch on the refractor, which makes the picture look less blurry. "How about now?" he asks again. "Better… How is this supposed to help my vision?"

He flips the switch again "It's supposed to _test_ your vision. How about know?" The picture is now perfectly clear. "Best, that's the clearest picture I've seen so far." I answer. The opto-guy pulls the refractor thing away from my face.

"Okay, were done." He says while writing in the files. "I'll be right back." He leaves the room. "Why did you bring me here?" I ask Chell. She gives me an annoyed glare. "Fine, I'll stop asking you questions."

"Wheatley, you need glasses." The opto-guy says as he comes back into the room with a small, cylinder-like, black case. "Try these on." He gives me the case. Inside is a pair of wire-frame, circular lensed glasses. I put them on my face, they make the world twisted and distorted. "These are making my vision worse!" I exclaim.

"You'll feel dizzy for a day, but then you will see perfectly." He states. Chell nods her head as a thank you and guides me out into the waiting room. "How do I look?" I ask her. Chell smirks as she hands the receptionist a plastic card. The receptionist scans it with a device and gives it back to Chell.

She signs a few papers and leads me out to the elevator. Everything looks so weird! Chell still looks a little anxious as we wait in the elevator. We leave the building and out into the parking lot. During the car ride, I take my glasses on and off to see the differences in my perception. It's either warped and misshapen or blurry and unrecognizable.

The sun has already set. Chell goes into her room. I don't know if you're supposed to keep the glasses on while you're sleeping, but there really uncomfortable on my face. I guess I have deal with it.

"Goodnight." I whisper.


	14. Chapter 14: Cassette

~ Wheatley ~

I can't stop thinking about what Rick said, me and Chell, boyfriend and girlfriend? That's ridiculous! We met each other only a little over three weeks ago, and Chell doesn't even remember me completely. That's just- It's just so insane! I mean, yes, she is somewhat attractive. And she's also smart, and- And- Wait- What am I saying?! No! I can't! I can't possibly think that I… No! No! I-I just can't!

Hugging my pillow in a death-grip, I watch the sun slowly rise above the horizon from the window. The streaks of golden light shine on my face. The view almost calms my conflicting thoughts. It almost makes up for these extremely uncomfortable glasses.

After thirty minutes of watching the sun come up, I can hear Chell coming out of her room. She goes into the kitchen. But instead of the usual black coffee, she pours a bottle filled with an orange colored drink into a cup. "Good morning!" I greet her. For looking like a mess each morning, she sure can pull it off.

She sits next to me and brushes the strands of dark brunette hair away from her gray eyes. She takes a look at my face and giggles. This is the first time I actually heard her giggle. I must look like an idiot. She puts down the drink and takes the glasses off my face. She bends the arms on the glasses a little bit then puts them back on my face. She writes a note on the sticky pad. 'You're not supposed to wear your glasses while you're sleeping.' It reads. "Oh…" I reply, laughing faintly.

"What are we going to do today? Do you have any ideas? I seriously don't have any." I ask her. Chell picks up the 'Interesting things' bag. "Going to take a look in the good, old bag of knowledge, huh?" Chell pulls out one of the millions of cassette tapes from the bag. She writes another note, the words: 'Do you have a cassette player with you?'

"Sadly, no, I wish I did have one. Then I would have known what was on those tapes a long time ago." I answer. She writes in reply: 'It's okay. I think I know someone who has one.' "Oh! Are we going on another car ride?!" I question her eagerly. She shakes her head.

She slips on a pair of flip-flops, writes another note, and walks out the door with me by her side. We travel on the sidewalk for a few minutes before my curiosity and impatience gets the best of me. "How much longer do we have to walk?" Chell holds up five fingers in the air. "Five what? Five minutes, five hours, five days?! How much longer do we have to walk?!"

The rows of extremely identical, white colored, half-suburban houses look empty. The windows on them are either covered or pitch black inside. Nobody is outside except us. I feel like I'm in a 'Ghost Town'. "Chell, does anyone live on the street beside us?"

She answers with a shrug of her shoulders. The whistling wind makes me shiver, intensifying that 'Ghost Town' feel. We take a sharp turn to the right, facing one of the identical houses. Chell walks up the small concrete steps and knocks on the door calmly.

A blond-haired, purple-eyed, kind-looking young woman is behind the door. She smiles the sweetest smile once she takes a glance at Chell's face. "Chell, it is so nice to see you again! It's been so long! How have you been?" Her voice is sweet like her never-fading smile. "Who's your friend?" She looks at me.

"I'm Wheatley, it's nice to meet you too, miss…" I introduce myself by holding out my hand. The woman hugs me instead and replies, "Melanie, and this is my son." A small, blond-haired, yellow-eyed child peeks out from behind Melanie.

"Calvin, this is Chell and Wheatley. Say hello, Calvin." She speaks to the child. "Who are you? What's your name, again? Why are you here? How do you know my mom? Why are you here, again?" Calvin asks with a squeaky voice. "Hey Chell, this kid asks more questions than I do!" I elbow Chell in the arm lightly for comedic effect.

"Calvin's a curious one. He's always asking questions." Melanie says. Chell hands Melanie a note. "A cassette player?" She says while reading the note. "As a matter of fact, I do have one! Stay right here while I get it for you. Calvin will keep you company." She leaves the room.

"Why is your name Wheatley? Where are you from? Do you have a dog? Why are your glasses so big?" Calvin asks me. "Slow down, please. I can only answer on question at a time!" I tell him. "Do you like apples, or grapes, or peaches, or bananas, or oranges, or apples?" He ignores my response. "Do you like giraffes? I love giraffes! Why do they have long necks? Why are the yellow with brown spots? Why can't they be stripped, or purple, or purple and stripped? Do you like the color blue? What is your favorite movie?"

"Here it is! I'm sorry it's so dusty, it hasn't been used in years." Melanie says while coming into the room with an old cassette player in her hands. "Thank you." I say, taking the cassette player. "We promise, we're going to return this once we're finished using it."

"Oh, no, keep it! Now that we have a radio, we don't need to listen to cassettes tapes anymore." Melanie replies. "Well, thank you. We have to go now. It was wonderful meeting you two." I say as Chell and I walk to the door. "Have a nice day! Calvin, say goodbye to Chell and Wheatley." Melanie waves. Chell and I both wave back. "Where are they going?" Calvin asks before Chell closes to door.

"What a kind family." I say to Chell. "Well, now we have a chance to see what's on those tapes." We go home, place the cassette player on the floor, and get out the tapes. Chell picks a tape at random and puts it in the player.

_Click Click_

_"Welcome, gentlemen, to Aperture Science. Astronauts, war heroes, Olympians-You're here because we want the best, and you are it."_ A man's voice is said through the player.

_"So, who is ready to make some science?"_

_"I am!"_ A woman can be heard.

The man laughs for a little bit.

_"Now, you already met one another on the limo ride over, so let me introduce myself. I'm Cave Johnson. I own the place."_

_"That eager voice you heard is the lovely Caroline, my assistant. Rest assured, she has transferred your honorarium to the charitable organization of your choice. Isn't that right, Caroline?"_

_"Yes sir, Mr. Johnson."_ The woman says.

_"She's the backbone of the facility. Pretty as a postcard, too. Sorry, fellas. She's married…To science!"_

_Click_

The cassette player stops. Chell takes out the tape and puts in another one.

_Click Click_

_"Those of you helping us test the Repulsion Gel today, just follow the blue line on the floor."_

_"Those of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, I have some good news and some bad news. Bad news is, we're postponing those tests indefinitely. Good news is, we've got a much better test for you: Fighting an army of mantis men! Pick up a rifle and follow the yellow line. You'll know when the test starts._

_Click_

Chell puts in another tape.

_Click Click_

_"Alright, let's get started! This first test involves something the lab boys call 'Repulsion Gel'."_

_"You're not part of the Control Group, by the way. You get the gel. Last poor son-of-a-gun got blue paint! Hahahahaha! All joking aside, that did happen- broke every bone in his legs. Tragic. But informative! Or so I'm told."_

_Click_

Next tape.

_Click Click_

_"The lab boys just informed me that I should not have mentioned the Control Group. They're telling me I oughtta stop making these pre-recorded messages. That gave me an idea: make more pre-recorded messages! I pay the bills here, I can talk about the Control Group all damn day!"_

_Click_

"Wow, this Cave Johnson sure is… eccentric." I say

_Click Click_

_"Greetings friend. I'm Cave Johnson, CEO of Aperture Science- You might know us as a vital participant in the 1968 Senate Hearings on missing astronauts. And you've most likely used on of the many products we invented, but that other people somehow managed to steal from us. Black Mesa can eat my bankrupt-"_

_"Sir, the tests."_ Caroline interrupts.

_"Right. Now, you might be asking yourself, 'Cave, just how difficult are these tests? What was in that phone book of a contract I signed? Am I in danger?' Let me answer those questions with a question: Who wants to make sixty dollars? Cash."_

_"You can also feel free to relax up to twenty minutes in the waiting room, which is a damn sight more comfortable than the park benches most of you were sleeping on when we found you."_

_"So, welcome to Aperture. You're here because we want the best, and you're it. Nope, couldn't keep a straight face."_

_Click_

_Click Click_

_"Welcome to the Enrichment Center *Cough*. Since making test participation mandatory for all employees, the quality of our test subjects has risen dramatically. Employee retention, however, has not."_

_"*Cough* As a result, you may heard we're gonna phase out human testing. There's still a few thing left to wrap up, though."_

_"The bean counters told me we literally could not afford to buy seven dollars worth of moon rocks, much less seventy million. Bought 'em anyway. Ground 'em up, mixed 'em into gel."_

_"And guess what? Ground up moon rocks are pure poison. I am deathly ill!"_

_"Still, it turns out they're a great portal conductor. So now we're gonna see if jumping in and out of portals can somehow leech the lunar poison out of a man's bloodstream. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade *Cough*. Let's all stay positive and do some science."_

_"That said, I would really appreciate it if you could test as fast as possible. Caroline, please bring me more pain pills."_

_Click_

_Click Click_

_"Alright ,I've been thinking. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these?! Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am?! I'm the man who's going to burn your house down! With lemons! I'm going to get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down! *Cough*"_

_"The point is: If we can store music on a compact disc, why can't we store a man's intelligence and personality into one? So I have the engineers figuring that out right now."_

_"Brain Mapping. Artificial Intelligence. We should have been working on it thirty years ago. I will say this- and I'm gonna say it on tape so everybody hears it a hundred times a day: If I die before you people can pour me into a computer, I want Caroline to run this place."_

_A stunned expression emerges on Chell's face._

_"Now, she'll argue. She'll say she can't. She's modest like that. But you make her."_

_"Hell, put her in my computer. I don't care."_

_"Alright, test's over. You can head on back to your desk."_

_Click_

Chell puts the last tape into the player.

_Click_

Nothing.

Chell takes the tape out and puts it back in again.

_Click_

Still nothing.

Chell takes it out and puts it back in again, franticly pushing the 'Play' button over and over.

"Chell," I say, holding her hand and moving it away from the cassette player. "Stop, I think we're done." I let go of her shaky hand. I gather the tapes, put them in the bag, and place the cassette player under the coffee table.

Chell turns off the light, and retreats to her room without notice. I sit on the couch. My hand tingles from holding Chell's hand. I've only felt this feeling once before, when I helped Chell get out of that portal. My stomach feels strange. I'm not sure if I like this sensation or not.

Why do I feel this way?


	15. Chapter 15: Never

~ Wheatley ~

_You know she's waiting._

Who said that? Who are you?

_You have to tell her._

Tell who what? Who are you? You sound familiar.

_She's waiting._

You're The Voice! Are you talking to me by transmission? Or did you give me some conscience with your voice instead of my own?

_Neither, I'm just a creation of your twisted imagination, of which you have none._

Oh, like you have imagination.

_It's not like I need imagination._

Why are you talking to me?

_To get you out of your delusional fairy-tale. You need to tell her._

Are you talking about Chell?

_Who else am I talking about, moron?_

Well, I don't know what you're talking about. Chell and I are doing fine.

_She's waiting._

Waiting for what?

_For the ending. You need to tell her the ending. _

No! I'm never going to tell her what I did! Never! She's going to hate me if I tell her!

_Stop trying to live in a dream, you imbecile. You're in reality. Everything is not sweet and cuddly here. You need to tell her the truth._

What's wrong with sweetness or dreams?! Reality would just be called 'Punishment' without them!

_Well, reality would just be called 'Sugar and Honey Land' without truth or pain._

I'm never going to tell her the ending! What Chell doesn't know won't hurt her. It's better if she never knows what really happened.

_She knows you're holding her back. She wants an answer. You have to give her an answer, not a distraction._

You know what?! You don't exist! You are not real! I don't have to listen to you!

_All that time is going to accumulate into one big stack of lies. And one little slip-up can make that whole stack fall on your tiny, little head. Crushing you. Trust me. You're not going to like the outcome._

Nope! I'm not listening!

_Listen to me, moron! The consequence is bigger than you think!_

"I AM NOT A MORON!" I scream, making the entire house quake. The noise wakes up Chell, who is rushing into the living room to check on the situation."It's okay, Chell. I just… Had a bad dream. You can you back to sleep." I say in a calm and convincing tone. She lets out a breath, and then returns to her room.

"No… I-I'm never going to tell her. No matter what The Voice says. I can never tell her…"


	16. Chapter 16: Bridges

~ Atlas ~

"I have to admit, I missed testing the humans. All that experimenting with human bone and tissue paid off. The downside is that you can only die once before you're permanently useless. But it's better than watching you two die repeatedly by just exploding every time you get shot by turrets or fall in goo, so anti-dramatic. I'm satisfied just watching a long, painful, agonizing death." The Voice says as we walk into the next chamber.

"But don't let that thought stop you from completing the tests." The Voice adds. The entrance is blocked by a hard-light bridge with its side facing us. I'm about to climb over it until P-Body taps a finger on my shoulder. "Look," She says while pointing at a row of turrets that are lined up on one side of the impassable room. The hard-light bridge is protecting us from their bullets. "Think before you run into something." P-Body states.

"Try putting a light blue portal there," She points to where the light bridge ends on the wall. "And a purple portal right here." She points to the small portion of wall behind us. I take her advice and place two portals where she pointing at. The blue bridge stretches across the room, obstructing the turrets view. But the crisscross of bridges is still blocking us from the room.

"Okay, now you try putting an orange portal here," I say pointing at the wall where the hard-light bridge begins. "And a red portal over there." I point to the wall on the left in the room that is next to a metal staircase. She does so, making a safe entrance for us to go through.

We walk up the rust encrusted staircase to find one row of turrets on each side of the two walls. The row along the right wall is already obstructed with a light bridge. "Turn around, P-Body, turn around." I say to P-Body, who seems to be trapped in thought. She snaps back to reality at an instant, "Okay, okay! Fine, I'll turn around!"

"Now make a portal over-" I instruct her, but she already makes a red portal where the light bridge begins and an orange one on the tiny portion of a wall behind her before I finish my sentence. The bridges now block both of the turret rows, making it safe to cross. "Hey there little guys. Can't shoot me now! Ha ha!" I joke around. I wave my hand in front of the bridges, making the turrets' lasers target directly at me.

"Target acquired."

I hit the floor with my hands covering my ears fearfully as the turrets fire. The bullets bounce on the bridges in front of them, never hitting their acquired target. "Are you still there?" A turret squeaks. "Would you come over here, please?" Another one asks me with an innocent voice. I get up quickly and run over to P-Body who is on the second staircase.

"Serves you right for teasing the turrets." She scoffs. "Now stop messing around and let's go." We walk over to the checkpoint, stepping on our assigned spots on the floor. "High-five?" I offer P-Body as I hold up my hand. "Alright." She answers nonchalantly and holds up her hand. We do a high-five as the panels slide out of the way, revealing the next part of the chamber. "You're doing a great job of disappointing me." The Voice interrupts. The floor of the next part of the chamber is replaced with goo. There's a hard-light bridge below and a panel on the far right of the room. But, the bridge is too low for us to get to the panel. P-Body makes a portal where the light bridge ends and another one on the wall above the bridge. We walk along the newly made bridge over to the panel. The scarlet lasers of turrets follow us. We have to hide in a crevice in the wall behind the panel. I place a portal at the end of an upright hard-light bridge in the distance and another one on the wall, protecting us from getting hit. "Okay… Maybe we can…Oh! Wait! Wait! I got it!" P-Body exclaims. "Make a purple portal right here. And I will make an orange portal right next to yours." She turns around and makes her portal. A perfect walkway is created as I place my portal.

We hurry along the path until P-Body stops half way and yells, "Look, there's a button right there!" She pounds on the upright bridge that is protecting us from the turrets' bullets. There's a button on a platform out in the open behind the protective blue shield. I step back, noticing an edgeless safety cube receptacle attached to the ceiling. I glance at the 'Super button' next the chamber door

"I think I have an idea, but you're not going to like it." I say. "Well, what is it?" She asks me. "My idea is that I need to disable the bridge that is keeping us from getting shot. And while the bridge is gone, you need to push that button and run back and get the edgeless cube that's going to fall out of that receptacle while I set the bridge back up." I explain. She stops pounding on the bridge. "What?! No! I'm not going to risk my life for a button! Those turrets are going to kill me once you take the bridge away! Is there another way to get an edgeless cube?!" P-Body protests angrily.

"We don't have many options here. I promise that I'm going to put the bridge back up right after you push the button." I try to reason with her. "Why can't you do it?" She asks, crossing her arms. "Because I placed the portal on the wall. I'm the only one that can take it away." I reply, "Come on, you can do it. Do you want to finish this test or not?"

She pauses for a bit, studying my face skeptically. "Fine, let's get this over with." She replies irritably. I walk over to the chamber door, aiming at the purple portal on the back wall. "Are you ready?" I shout at P-Body. "Yes!" She yells back. "Okay! Three…Two…One!" I pull the trigger, the portal and the bridge both disappear with a flash.

P-Body sprints as fast as she can toward the button and slams her hand on it. A weighted storage cube falls on the floor. P-Body freezes in her tracks as the turrets' lasers lock on her. "Hello, friend." The turrets speak to her with sweet, little voices, "I see you."

"P-Body! Run! What are you doing?! RUN!" I scream at her. P-Body just stands there with her hands in fists. "P-BODY!" I scream again. She blinks, shakes her head and runs toward the edgeless cube. I shoot the purple portal again and the blue bridge reappears as the turrets fire. P-Body rushes with the cube and drops it on the button. "What's the matter with you? You just stood there right in front of the turrets. Why didn't you run away?" I ask her. "I-I don't know. I couldn't move." She replies. We go through the chamber door and into our own elevators.

"Well, that was something." The Voice says as we go up and into the next chamber. "And it was pretty amusing. But that little show of yours doesn't help your terrible scores for that last test chamber. Orange, try not to have a nervous breakdown. Blue can't help you every time your newly programmed fears get a hold of you during the tests."

**A/N: Hey guys! So for now on, I'm going to lengthen the chapters a little more so that now there are going to be two POVs for each chapter. Except probably two because those are really intense chapters and I need to keep them separated into chapters so the story doesn't feel rushed or awkward. But I'm having a tiny 'Writers Block' at the moment for chapter 17 on Wheatley's point of view. It would be wonderful if some of the viewers could give me ideas on what Chell and Wheatley could do together. Something cute and fun that they could do together, like bake a cake together or something. Baking a cake is the only idea that's going through my head. Thanks for all the favorites and followers out there! It really makes me happy to see people enjoying what I make! You guys are just awesome! So I hope you like this chapter, I had to watch almost ten walkthrough videos so I could get this chapter made.**

**Oh! Yes! Happy New Year! 2013 is here!**

**Okay… I'm done talking here… So…. Bye guys!**


	17. Chapter 17: Asters

**Hello, again! I finally pushed that 'Writers Block' out of the way. Thank you for the reviewers- Well, the one reviewer that gave me a little help on writing this chapter. Thanks Indigo Tantarian! **

**But thank you for those who even ****_read_**** my story! 3,400 views on my story! I never knew that I would get so many views. I thought I would get like five views or something when I posted the first chapter.**

**Gosh… Wow… All I can say is… Thank you!**

**Oh yeah, remember in the last chapter when I said I was going to add one more POV for each chapter with the exception for two? Well… I have to take that statement back. I'm going to have to keep this chapter and about three more chapters separate for the sake of the story- Please don't hate me!**

**But let's put all the bad news aside. Please enjoy this chapter! I had to use a lot of 'Brain Power' to make this one.**

~ Wheatley ~

I hear the squeaking of a door as I stir around in sleep mode. I don't bother opening my eyes to see who's there, nonetheless even wake up at all to the sounds of shuffling and faint clinks of metal colliding together. I'm not sure I'm even in sleep mode anymore. I listen to the restless noise as I pretend to be asleep on the couch.

But curiosity catches up to me as it always does. I allow myself to open one eye to discover Chell standing in front of me holding a triangular spoon-like object in front of my face. "Hello, love. I never thought you'd be awake before me." I say sleepily, rubbing my eyes as I sit up. "What's that silver thing you got right there?"

She hands me a sticky note as I put on my glasses. 'You're going to learn how to plant a garden.' Is written on the note. "Gardening? Well, I've never tried gardening before. Does it hurt?" I ask her. Chell guides me into the backyard.

She gives me a pair of tough, old gloves and a giant fork thing that is almost as tall as her. We walk over to the left side of the yard near the white fence. "What am I supposed to do with this, exactly?" I ask her. Chell takes back the fork thing and scrapes the ground with it until the brown soil is revealed underneath. She stops and gives it back to me. I try to do what she did, scraping the dirt around with the end of the fork.

Chell then gets the triangular spoon thing and scoops out a tiny hole in the dirt. I do the same thing. She reaches in her pocket and pulls out two small paper packets. She tosses me a packet. 'Sky Blue Aster Seeds' is printed on it below a small picture of a blue flower. I tear the packet open and pour the tiny seeds into my hand.

Chell and I scatter the seeds in the holes. She then drags a big bag filled with darker, richer soil over here. 'MULCH' is printed on the bag. She helps me lift the bag and empty half of its contents on the ground. Chell spreads the mulch around with the spoon thing. She walks over to the side of the house and unravels the coiled-up hose. She twists the rusty knob on the faucet that is attached to the hose. I take the hose and water the soil for a while. Chell turns the knob on the faucet, winds up the hose back into its original shape, and sits on the concrete patio. I join her, wiping the sweat off my forehead and the earth off my hands.

"This is gardening? Where the flowers? This looks nothing like the picture on the packet! It just looks like dirt!" I complain, taking out the empty packet of seeds. Chell laughs out loud and mouths out the word 'Wait'. "For how long?" I ask her impatiently. She stares up at the sky. The sun is going down, making the sky into a display of orange, pink, yellow, red, and a hint of purple. This reminds me of paintings. The delicate strokes of the brush creating a beautiful landscape of colors and shades onto the canvas, art really does calm a person's mind.

I can hear the roaring of cars zooming on the streets. The road is much busier than usual now. The sun is now just a faint outline of the horizon. The sky is just a mixture of purple and blue behind the tiny glow of the newly appearing stars. Humans sure are fortunate to see this stunning and graceful display of hues every single day.

I take a look at Chell. The strands of her dark brunette hair escape from her pony-tail, falling perfectly on her shoulders. Her smoky gray eyes reflect the glittery stars above her head. She looks incredibly magnificent at night.

Being caught up in all the beauty, (and without thinking) I hug Chell tightly. I don't even know why I'm doing this. It's like I can't control my movements. Why am I even doing this?

Chell jumps a little by surprise. I'm expecting her to pull me off of her and/or run away in disgust, but she doesn't. She wraps her arms around me and hugs me back! She rests her head on my shoulders. Getting over my shock, I smile the biggest smile that anyone could ever make. I can't believe this is happening! I close my eyes and breathe in the fresh air. This feeling that's making my fingers tremble with excitement is the best feeling I have ever witnessed. It's more than the euphoria I experienced when I controlled the facility, so much more than that. It feels- It feels amazing!

I can feel time slowing down. And I want it to slow down. I want this sensation to last for a long, long time.

…I want this feeling to last forever…


	18. Chapter 18: Vivid

~Chell ~

I'm trapped in a room, an empty room. I can't reach the orange portal above me. Maybe it was a mistake going here. Can I climb over that wall? Probably not. Ugh! This room is useless! Why did I even come here? I shoot a portal at the dark grey wall. Blue sparks fly everywhere, but no portal appears. Now I'm really trapped. I press my ear against the wall and knock my free hand on it, hoping to hear a hollow-like noise. Maybe I can break open the wall, somehow.

Wait… There's a door.

'GLaDOS EMERGANCY SHUTDOWN AND CAKE DISPENSARY' is printed on the door in big, black lettering. It's a trap, I know it is. Does She really think I'm that stupid to fall for this? But it's my only way out of this worthless room. I step in front of the door and turn the handle as slow as I can.

Jumping backwards, expecting some kind of deadly weapon or turrets to appear behind the door and shoot me to death. The door tilts forward and falls flat onto the floor. What was that? Is that it? Nothing is even behind the door.

"I honestly, TRULY didn't think you'd fall for that." Her Voice says. "In fact, I devised a much more elaborate trap further ahead for when you got through this easy one." There are more traps? I knew it. "If I'd known you'd let yourself get captured this easily, I would have just dangled a turkey leg on a rope from the ceiling."

The walls suddenly shift forwards, closing me in until the room becomes a cramped, little box. The floor splits in two, getting farther and farther away from each other. I jump down into the gap, landing in a tiny, glass chamber.

"Well, it was nice catching up. Let's get started." She says as the small, glass chamber shifts it's self into the next room. "I hope you brought something stronger than a Portal Gun this time. Otherwise, I'm afraid you're about to become the immediate past president of the 'Being Alive Club'. Ha ha" The giant mess of wires and machinery suspended from the ceiling with a rectangular-like head and one yellow colored eye mocks me as the small chamber jerks to a stop.

"Seriously, though. Goodbye." A group of robotic hands/claws descend and place five turrets around the chamber. They all have no outer shell, and even one turret trapped in a white, cardboard box. "This is my big chance." One says. It makes a few clicks, but nothing happens. The turret then spontaneously combusts, and turns into a big ball of fire. "Oh boy." The other turrets say in masculine and sarcastic voices as the all explode into tiny pieces.

"Oh, you were busy back there. Well, I suppose we could just sit in this room and glare at each other until somebody drops dead. But I have a better idea." Long, transparent pipes appear from behind the walls and crash into the glass inside the chamber. "It's your old friend, deadly neurotoxin. If I were you, I'd take a deep breath. And hold it."

Nothing but the sounds of grunting and pain-filled noises escapes from the pipes. A familiar, spherical Core tumbles out of a pipe and lands on the floor with a big _Thud_. "Hello!" Wheatley greets us with perkiness in his voice.

"I hate you so much." She responds. "Warning: Central Core is 80% corrupt." A flat, male voice cautions us through the unseen speakers in the room. "That's funny. I don't feel corrupt. In fact, I feel pretty good." She says ominously. "Alternate Core detected." The male announcer speaks.

"Oh! That's me there talking about!" Wheatley exclaims enthusiastically. "To initiate Core Transfer, please deposit substitute Core in the receptacle" The announcer states. "Core Transfer? Oh, you have got to be kidding me." She scoffs.

"I got an idea! Do what it says! Plug me in!" Wheatley instructs me. "Do NOT plug that little idiot into MY mainframe." She retorts angrily. "No you should plug that little idiot into the mainframe." Wheatley interjects as I pick him up off the floor. "Don't you DARE plug him in!" She commands me, her voice getting tenser as I take each step toward the receptacle.

"Don't listen to Her! Do it!" Wheatley tries persuading me. I plug him into the machine without hesitation, ignoring the angry threats from the desperate robot across the room. "Substitute Core accepted." The announcer says, "Substitute Core, are you ready to start the procedure?"

"Yes!" Wheatley replies. "Corrupted Core, are you ready to start the procedure?" The announcer asks Her. "No!" She responds. "Oh, yes she is!" Wheatley approves the announcer. "Nonononononono!" She argues. "Stalemate detected. Transfer procedure cannot continue." The announcer says. "Yes!" She exclaims with relief.

"…Unless a Stalemate associate is present to press the 'Stalemate Resolution Button'." The announcer interrupts Her moment of victory. "Pullmeoutpullmeoutpullmeoutp ullmeoutpullmeout!" Wheatley begs in fear. I run over to him, ready to rip him right out of the machine. The machine then descends into the floor a little bit. "Leavemeinleavemeinleavemeinl eavemein!" He pleads with urgency, making me withdraw my hand suddenly.

"Just- Just go press it!" Wheatley shouts at me, his cobalt blue optic shrinks and his spontaneous twitching gets worse as he keeps on panicking. "Don't do it! Don't press that button!" She pressures me. I'm already sprinting toward the 'Stalemate Resolution Annex'. But a hidden panel launches me backwards by surprise.

"Not so fast!" She says anxiously. "Think about this. You need to be a trained stalemate associate to press that button. You're unqualified." I make a blue portal on the wall right next to the 'Stalemate Resolution Button" and an orange portal on the floor below me.

Upright panels form a barricade between me and the button. The panels follow my every move as I try to get around them. "Impersonating a Stalemate associate, I just added that to the list. It's a list I made of all things you have done. Well, it's a list I AM making, because you're still doing things right now, even though I'm telling you to stop. Stop, by the way." She says, trying to make me stop.

I place an orange portal on the side wall of the 'Stalemate Resolution Annex'. I step through the blue portal behind me. I'm in the panels' 'Blind Spot', leaving the 'Stalemate Resolution Button' completely unguarded. Without a second of uncertainty, I press the button down as hard as I can.

"Ah!" She cries out in pain. She twitches violently. Smoke and fiery sparks shoot out of her as she trembles like an earthquake. She then goes limp with a trail of smoke still coming out of her. "Stalemate resolved. Please return to the 'Core Transfer Bay'." The announcer says. I walk over to the small stairway.

"Here I go!" Wheatley shouts with eagerness. "Wait- What if this hurts? What if this _really_ hurts?" He asks with worry in his voice. "Aw, I didn't think of that!"

"Oh, it will. Believe me, it will." She replies in a sinister tone. "Are- Are you just saying that? Or is it really gonna hurt? You're just saying that, aren't you? No- No you're not. It's gonna hurt isn't it? Exactly, how painful is it- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHGGG GGGGG!" Wheatley screams at the top of his vocal processor as the machine descends completely into the floor and disappears.

The room grows darker and darker. A crimson glow emits from an emerging hole under Her.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME! STOP! NO! NO! NO! NO! – AAAAAAaaaaaAAaAAAaAaaaaaaAaA AAaAAaaaAaAahhh!…"

That scream… That ear-deafening, glass-shattering, blood-curdling scream. The idol, the deity, the so-called goddess of Aperture is just being dragged into what could possibly be _Android Hell_. Oh, that scream is so sharp and intense that it could actually _kill _someone at an instant. I can't imagine the agony that she is experiencing right now…

Could I… Could I actually feel… Sorry for Her?

My sympathy for the psychopathic monster that She is quickly fades away as the florescent lighting returns to the room. "Wowwwwww!" Wheatley shouts out of exhilaration as he surfaces again, in Her body. Her scorched, beaten-up rectangular Core is tossed out of the gap in the floor and discarded to the side of the room as if she was a piece of garbage.

"We did it! I'm in control of the whole facility now!" He spins around joyfully. "Whoa-ho-ho! Would you look at this! Not too bad, eh? Giant robot. Massive! It's not just me, right? I am bloody massive, aren't I?"

"Oh! Right! The escape lift! I'll call it now."

_Ding!_

"There we go! Lift called!" A glass elevator appears on the other side of the room. "Look how small you are down there! I can barely see you! Very tiny and insignificant!"

"Wait! Just thought of something. How am I going to get in? You know, being bloody massive and everything?!"

"Wait! I know! You get into the lift, okay? Then I'll eject myself out of my new body, into the lift, just as you pass by me! Brilliant!"

"It's perfect! Except for all the glass hitting us when I smash through the lift, that's a bit of a problem."

"Also, once I eject myself out of this body, the lift might stop. Then we'd be trapped in a lift full of broken glass, suspended fifty feet off the ground."

"You know what? Just get in the lift. We'll iron out the details as we go."

I walk into the elevator calmly, the glass door slides shut by itself.

"I knew it was gonna be cool to be in charge of everything, but… Wow, this is cool!" Confetti showers down from the ceiling and weighted storage cubes bounce around from panel to panel behind Wheatley.

"And check this out! I'm a bloody genius now! _Estas usando este software de traduccion de forma incorrecta. por favor, consulta el manual._"

"I don't even know what I just said. But I can find out!"

"Oh! Sorry! The lift! Sorry! I keep forgetting!"

The elevator slowly rises up.

This is it. I'm going to leave. I'm actually going to leave this place.

"This body is amazing! Seriously!"

No more tests. No more lies. No more turrets. No more neurotoxin. No more Her…

"But I'm huge!"

The World is going to look beautiful. I know it. It's going to look just beautiful.

"…He he he he he ha ha ha ha HAHAHAHAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!..."

Wait… That laugh sounded… strange…

"…He he…Oh… Actually… Why do we have to leave right now?..." The elevator starts to descend.

Oh God no…

"Do you have any idea how good this feels?"

… Please God no… This can't be happening… Oh please God… Please…

"I did this! Tiny, little Wheatley did this!"

"…You didn't do anything…" A dry and unintelligible voice comes from the lifeless, rectangular Core next to the elevator.

"…She did all the work…"

She's defending me? _She_ is defending _me_? What is happening?!

"Oh really? That's what the two of you think? Is it?" Wheatley replies to the defying Core.

"Well, maybe it's time I did something then…" A pair of robotic hands/claws drags Her back into Android Hell.

"…What are you doing?!... No! NO! NO!" She screams as she vanishes into the crimson void.

"Don't think I'm not onto you too, lady." Wheatley says, getting close to the elevator and up to the glass.

"You know what you are? Selfish."

"I've done nothing but sacrifice to get us here. What have you sacrificed?"

"NOTHING. Zero."

"All you've done is BOSS ME AROUND! Well, NOW who the boss? Who's the boss?" He's now right in my face, glaring at me intimidatingly.

"It's me!"

Wheatley…

_Ding!_

"Ahhh…"

A robotic arm emerges from the void, and in its hand is a potato.

"See that?" The arm extends closer the elevator.

"This is a potato battery. It's a toy, for children. And now She lives in it." Wheatley laughs.

"…I know you…" The potato speaks in a blurred voice, the tiny light bulb attached to it blinking a dim, yellowish glow.

"Sorry- What?" Wheatley asks Her.

"The engineers tried everything to make me…Behave. To slow me down." She states.

"Once, they even attached an 'Intelligence Dampening Sphere' on me. It clung to my brain like a tumor, generating an endless stream of terrible ideas."

"No! I'm not listening! I'm not listening!" Wheatley tries to ignore Her, facing himself away from her presence.

"It was YOUR voice." She says, hatred creeping up in her voice.

"No- No! You're LYING! You're LYING!" Wheatley objects.

"Yes. You're the tumor." The potato says.

"You're not just a regular moron. You were DESIGNED to be a moron."

"I am NOT A MORON!" Wheatley punches the potato against the glass of the elevator in fury. I back away and hold onto the railings, my heart beating so fast that it could burst right out of my chest.

"YES YOU ARE! YOU'RE THE MORON THEY BUILT TO MAKE ME AND IDIOT!" She shouts at him, making him even more furious and full of rage.

"Well how about know?!" Wheatley breaks through the glass and throws Her into the elevator. I have to shield my face from the shards, the knife-like debris stab into my hands and my arms.

"NOW WHO'S A MORON?!"

"COULD A MORON PUNCH! YOU! INTO! THIS! PIT?!" He smashes his hand on top of the elevator till the elevator is jammed into shaft below us. My heart actually feels like it going to burst out of my chest at this second. My hands and fingers feel numb from clutching onto the railing that I can't feel them any more. Blood is running down from the cuts on my arms and onto my jumpsuit.

I've never thought I'd think of this...Wheatley is actually trying to murder me.

"COULD A MORON DO THAT?!"

In all the rage, the fury, and the threats, the floor of the elevator gives away.

My hands slip away from the rails. I cry silently out of pure terror as I fall into the black abyss…

My eyes snap wide open, feeling a painful jolt as I return back to reality. I look up to see a pair of cobalt blue eyes, about three feet away from my face, staring back at me puzzlingly. Almost shrieking at the top of my lungs, I punch the intruder in the face.

The intruder yelps in distress, he covers his face and collapses onto the floor. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHGGG GGGGG!"

Realizing that the intruder is just Wheatley, I rush out of the bed and try to aid the suffering man. "Oh it hurts! It hurts! Oh bloody hell it HURTS!" I sit crisscross on the floor and place Wheatley's head in my lap. "Wh- Why- Why did you do that?!" He asks me.

"I- I just wanted to see if you were alright! I heard lots of loud noises coming from you room, and I wanted to know if you were hurt or not! You didn't have to punch me in my bloody face! Ooowww!" Blood drips down from his nose and onto my hands. It's not actual blood, though. It's too thin and watery to be real blood. A blackish-purplish bruise slowly appears on Wheatley's face. "Does it look that bad?" He sits up and wipes the blood off his face with his shirt.

That nightmare seemed so real, so vivid. I'm thinking of the day that Wheatley appeared at my door, explaining about why he was here. 'We were able to switch me and her with this special machine, so I could take over the facility. And then I…' He never told the ending. He never finished the story. Was the nightmare the ending? Was that nightmare the ending that Wheatley has been holding back from me for weeks? He goes insane with power, puts Her into a potato, and almost kills me in hatred and rage. That's the rest of the story? And he never even told me about it once.

I don't know what to do. I don't know how to react about this. I don't know what to think about this.

… I just don't know…


	19. Chapter 19: Mistakes

~ Wheatley ~

Chell has never left her bedroom, not even once. I haven't seen her all day. And it's about to get dark outside, so it really has been a whole day. Her absence is making me nervous. Did I upset her by entering her room unannounced that she's trying to avoid me? I did knock before I came in. Nobody answered or opened the door, so I invited myself in.

That was a terrible mistake. I have a giant bruise on my face to prove that it was. And it bloody HURTS! But it makes sense, really. Walk into someone's home uninvited, and you'll get punched in the face.

But the consequence for my intrusion doesn't stop the awkwardness. I can get over the quietness in Sleep Mode. But silence in the daytime? With no one around? For hours on end? No. Even Nate's obsessive ramblings about his repetitive fascination of space kept me company. Even though, I wished I were with someone a little less _insane_ than Nathan, his tireless addiction made me keep _my_ sanity.

Come to think of it, I may be a little cracked too. Not as much as 'Spacey'. But still a bit mad up in there.

I can't take it. I need to see her. I can't take the quietness. I get off the couch urgently. Half-rushing into the hallway, I nearly collide into the walls as I slip on the hardwood flooring. Regaining my balance, I stand up to the bedroom door. I try to calm myself down by taking in deep breaths. I don't want to look like a disorderly, partially-crazed man in desperation when the person on the other side opens the door.

Trying to act calm, (for my insanity is deteriorating my patience, little by little) I knock on the door gently. "Chell? Hello? Can you hear me?" I speak through the polished, wooden barrier that is the door. I knock louder.

"Chell? Come on, can you let me in? Please?" No answer. "Please? Just give me a sign that you can hear me. Stomp your feet, clap your hands, tap on the walls- Just give me a sign." Still silence. I run to the living room, grab the pen and the sticky notes from the coffee table, and return to the door.

"Okay, I'm coming in. Do not be alarmed. You got that?" Unanswered as usual. "Again, do not be alarmed. But if I do scare you, accidently, I promise to leave your room immediately. I promise. Okay… I'm coming in!" I turn the door handle and poke my head through the widening crevice.

The drawn curtains obstruct the windows, preventing any light from entering the room. The room is mostly vacant. No decorations on the walls, or on the floor. No shelves or desks or chairs, just a bed. And in that bed, is a heap of discarded blankets, and a woman.

The woman sits at the edge of the mattress, hunched over, looking down at the floor. "Chell?..." I whisper. I step into the room cautiously and press my back against the door, keeping my distance from her. The woman's skin is slightly paler than usual. Her hair is messier than usual, too.

"I can tell your upset. Your upset because of me, I get it. But you don't have to hide it." She stays frozen, like a stone statue. "I did knock before I came in last night. I should have knocked a little louder, though. But I did knock." I kneel in front of her, offering her the pen and paper.

"Or did you have a nightmare? By the look on your face last night, you must have had a pretty dreadful one." She breathes in heavily once I mention the word 'Nightmare' to her.

"But you shouldn't get all upset over a nightmare. It's not like it was real."

"Yes, it was"

D- Did she just- Did she just… speak?! She actually said something! For the first time in years- or possibly more, she has actually said words!

"Chell… You're… You're not mute!"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

She looks up at me, her eyes filled with pain, grief, and trauma. My excitement dies away, only to be replaced with that nauseating, swelling sensation in my chest that I now know is 'Guilt'.

She knows what I did. She knows the whole thing. She knows that I betrayed her.

"I- I… I didn't tell you because… I didn't want you to hate me again. When I first came here, I thought you already knew me. I thought I didn't have to explain what I did, because you would already know. But no, you didn't remember me."

"Do you know how hard it is to explain to someone that you tried to _kill_ them?"

Chell stares at me with pain still in her eyes. She doesn't even try to answer my question.

"I wanted to forget all the things that I have caused. I never wanted to recall those terrible memories again."

"I know you don't want to recall them, either."

"I made a mistake- No- I made LOTS of mistakes."

"Even though I try so hard not to be the problem-maker, the accident-causer, the worthless pest. All of my actions end in regrets."

"At first, I just wanted to apologize for being arrogant, senseless, euphoria-addicted, and power-mad in the past. I didn't matter if you forgave me or not. I just wanted to apologize to you. I just wanted to clear away all the horrible thoughts and get rid of the guilt that I have been holding in for years."

I pause myself for a while.

"Have you ever heard the saying: 'Ignorance is bliss'?"

"I'm not saying that you're ignorant. I'm saying that… I should have just… Left you alone."

"I should have never come here. You could live your life without any memory of me, or Her, or the facility."

"But it's too late now. You know _everything_."

I walk over to the door and turn the door handle.

"I got an idea. I figured how to make this situation a little easier for you. I'll just leave."

"You don't have to worry about me. I betrayed you, after all."

I open the door.

"I'm sorry."

I close the door behind me.

I travel down the hall, which seems to be a lot longer than I thought it would be. I pass the living room. All of my belongings are scattered across the floor. I don't really care about them. I don't need them.

I get to the front door. I look down at my hands. I still have the pen and paper. I decide to write a note.

'Goodbye Chell'

I stick the note on the door. I sigh as I open it, get out, and close it behind me.

I don't know where I'm going to go. Somewhere far away, I guess. I'm not sure.

After waiting for all of the cars to pass by, I cross the street. It's nighttime. Nighttime doesn't really help my vision. Then again, I'm not really going anywhere, so it doesn't matter.

I walk along the sidewalk blindly. But, out of the corner of my eye, I see a figure rushing out of the house and across the street.

I can hear the cars' tires grinding against the road. I can see Chell. She's almost at the end of the street…

_Screeech!_

No…

I can't bear to witness the horror that is happening. It feels as if all hell has been let loose, it's like the apocalypse is crushing the universe to bits, it's like the most awful, horrifying, malicious beings in existence are coming together into one big concoction of pure torment. And I think it is.

Chell has been hit.

I struggle to speak under the shock and distress. I run over to her body. I hug her as tight as I can.

"HELP! SOMEONE! ANYONE! HELP!" I scream as loud as I can.

Two white vans stop on the side of the road. A group of people carry a cot on wheels over to us.

"Please be okay! Please be okay! Please be okay! Please be okay!" I cry, holding the unconscious woman in my arms.

The people take Chell and place her on the cot. They wheel her over the back of the van and lift her into it.

"Sir, you can't be in the ambulance. You have to stay here." One of the people says to me as I try to climb into the truck.

"No! I'm not letting her out of my sight! I'm not leaving Chell!" I shout in defiance. The man is ready to throw me out of the van, until another person stops him from doing so. He whispers into the man's ear. The first man nods and closes the van doors.

The van starts to drive off.

"I'm so sorry Chell! I didn't mean for this to happen! Please Chell! Be okay!" Bitter tears flow down my cheeks. I hold her hand, refusing to let go when the people in the van tell me to stand back.

"Please… Just be okay Chell… Please…"


	20. Chapter 20: Blame

~ Chell ~

"Why?... How could this happen?... Oh God… This is all my fault… It should have been me…"

The bright, florescent lights nearly blind me as I open my eyes. I try to shield them. A stinging, burning, excruciating pain surges in my fingers, hands, and arms as I try to do so. Oh, that's just wonderful. Just _wonderful_.

My eyes finally adjust to the harsh lighting. I notice the bulky cast around my left leg, suspended from a harness attached to the ceiling. There is also a thick coat of bandages around my left wrist. That explains my immobility. It's a good thing I'm right-handed.

The walls of the room are paper white, bare, and chipping with age. The tiled floor, checkered with gray and faded yellow squares, is pristine and extremely mirror-like. The bed sheets are a sickly, pale greenish-blue color. I'm in the hospital.

I remember most of last night. It's super hazy, but still intact. The split-second rush of adrenaline flowing through my veins. The petrifying roar of cars honking and tires screeching against the asphalt road. The sudden urge to flee once I see the most trauma-inducing, heart-stopping lights that I will ever witness in my entire life. Then…

_BAM!_

Everything turns into nothing. Numbness floods over me as I slowly begin to lose my awareness. Fighting to stay awake, knowing if I ever dare to close my eyes, I will be gone forever. Other people might let themselves go. Not me. Not when I hear the unceasing cries and pleas of the pain-stricken man that left me, thinking that if he walked out of my life entirely, everything would be turn for the better.

'Please be okay Chell! Please be okay!'

I shudder, snapping back to the present. I look around the room one more time. I notice the same man slouching in a chair. His trembling hands conceal his face, as if he's trying to hide himself away from the world. He sniffles, and then almost chokes under his own sobbing.

"…This is my fault… This is all my fault…"

The man stops his self-loathing and finally glances up. His eyes grow a little wider once he sees that I'm awake. He takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. His face shows an expression of remorse and shame.

"Chell, you're- you're alright… You're not… You're not…"

Tears stream down his face. He hides behind his hands again, wailing uncontrollably. He then buries his face in bed sheets. The pain in my hands and arms fades away. I stroke his hair gently with my good hand. He calms down for bit, but then cries again.

"I am so sorry! I never expected this to happen! I am so sorry that I did this to you! I'm sorry!"

Gathering his composure, he sits up.

"I just… I can't believe that… I did this to you. I mean- Look at yourself!"

His eyes fixate on the cast around my leg.

"You look like this… Because of me."

I know it wasn't his fault. I know he didn't intend for this. But he's convinced that it is his fault, that he is to blame for my injuries.

"I don't know what to do anymore! I don't know what I _can_ do anymore!"

"Are you going to leave me again?" I mutter.

He freezes once I say those words. Even his fingers stop trembling. His gaze is now focused on me. His breathing becomes shallow and quiet.

"Do you want me to?" He answers; his voice is soft and low.

"Do _you_ want to leave me again?" I reply back.

"Of course not! I never wanted to leave you in the first place! It's just- I don't want to hurt you again. I don't want to betray you again. I lov- I- I would _miss_ you too much if I ever left you. But I just knew I had too. For you, Chell."

"Do you still want me to leave?" He asks me.

He loses his sanity, almost kills me, doesn't tell me that he tried to kill me, hid his secret for five weeks, and convinced himself that he tried to kill me again. But, somehow, I don't want him to go. It's like a part of me, inside myself, is compelling me to let him stay. I don't if it's forgiveness, or something else. But I want him to stay.

"No… I don't." I answer him.


	21. Chapter 21: Teammates

~ GLaDOS ~

"I never expected you to make it this far. To be honest, after your performance during the previous tests, I thought you'd be dead before you reached the fourth course. But, you two have become quite a team. Extremely close. I have only met one other team closer. And one of them was an imbecile I had to destroy. The other… Well… I don't think I want to go through that again."

"Who are you talking about?" Blue interrupts me as the elevators open.

"Nothing you should be worrying about." I answer him. "Who's the 'Other Teammate'?" Orange asks. "Just a really, really horrible person." I say to Orange. The two step out of the elevators. "A horrible person?" Blue mumbles to Orange. She shrugs her shoulders in response. Her eyes then light up with enthusiasm.

"Oh! Oh! Was the 'Other Teammate' that sleepy lady that we had to drag into the elevator a long time ago?!" She jumps around, bouncing ecstatically from foot to foot. "She didn't look like a horrible person." Blue adds calmly.

"Is she still here?" Orange asks. "Can we meet her?! Please?!" The two squeal simultaneously, both jumping up and down with eagerness. "She was a menace to Science. She destroyed any Aperture Science Equipment that was given to her. She refused to cooperate with authority. So, I exiled her from the Enrichment Center permanently. Don't waste your precious energy conversing about her. She's probably _dead_ already. So no, you cannot meet her." I answer casually.

The two companions stop jumping like idiots and stare blankly at the ceiling. "We still have testing to do, you know…" I break the silence. They both snap out of their trances and shuffle quickly into the chamber.

Blue takes notice of the shredders that are spinning on the right side of the chamber. He fires a light blue portal where the Excursion Funnel in the corner of the room ends on the ceiling. He fires the dark blue portal on the white wall where the shredders end at. Orange leaps into the cerulean colored funnel with great confidence. "Be careful down there!" Blue shouts at Orange. "Oh, you think I'm just gonna' jump right into the shredders without _any_ second thoughts, huh?" Orange shouts back mockingly as she drifts effortlessly above the shredders to the other wall. "I just wanted to caution you." Blue replies, cupping his hands around his mouth to make himself louder.

"It's not nice to make fun of Blue like that, Orange." I state over the intercom speakers. She makes a portal on the wall in front of her and another portal on the white square, high above her head on the left wall.

Orange looks down as she keeps floating in the funnel; deactivated, stationary panels are attached to the wall below her. Her back presses against the 'Heavy Duty Super Colliding Super Button' when she reaches the wall, making the lifeless panels spring into position.

"Okay, I think we're good. Atlas, come over here." Orange confirms. Blue jumps into Excursion Funnel. "I just jump down there?" He asks her when he catches up. "Yep," She replies. Blue waves his arms back and forth to break through the spiraling fabric of the funnel. The braces on his Long-Fall Boots create a dense _Clunk_ as they hit the panels.

"We need to get into that room." He points to the entrance across the panel bridge. Orange shifts her position against the button slightly. "No- Don't move!" Blue yells in panic. Orange stiffens with discomfort.

"I got this!" Blue makes a dark blue portal on the wall in front of him. The Excursion Funnel materializes below Orange. She falls toward the shredders, only to be saved by the funnel. "You can open your eyes now, P-Body." Blue says with a clever tone in his voice. "I wasn't scared!" Orange objects. Blue chuckles. They both hover until they enter the next room. They walk into the Chamber Lock and into their elevators.

"Admit it. You were scared." Blue teases Orange. "I don't know what you're talking about." Orange replies. She looks away as her cheeks blush a scarlet hue.

**Hello! *Imitates Cave Johnson's voice* Now I have some good news and some bad news… What do you want first? *Presses ear against the computer screen* Bad news? You want the bad news first? Alright then…**

***Normal voice* The bad news is I can't do the two POVs thing that I promised you guys a long time ago. More POVs means I have to work more and think more. And as I know now, thinking harder make my special 'Brain Power Meter' drop down in the 'Imagination' category. Chapters are now as long as I can make them. I can't spit out POVs like how that Cereal Guy on iFunny spits out his cereal so many times in his comics, sadly…**

**Don't gimme' that look! Now here's the good news!**

**For now on, I'm going to regulate my chapter postings! *Imaginary audience cheers* I will post my chapters every Friday-Saturday. No more posting chapters 'willy nilly'. Yay! And trust me, I have LOTS and LOTS of chapter ideas. But, if run dry all of the sudden, I will ask you and the other viewers myself. So don't worry Bros!**

**I have been receiving very positive reviews from you guys. Thank you for that! It's has been very dramatic these past two chapters, hasn't it? Well, I got another surprise from your suave ladies-man and your factually-incorrect genius! But, I'm not revealing the secret to you, yet. Or have I?... Dang it! I need to learn to keep my secrets to myself! I'll work on that later…**

**Addio!**


	22. Chapter 22: Promise

~ Wheatley ~

I sit outside on the doorstep, staring at the wall clock through the window. '1:00' it blinks across its black screen. I jump elatedly to my feet, move the holder of the plastic bag through my wrist, and shift my grip on the cassette player in my arms. I walk on the pale concrete sidewalk with vitality.

After the incident in the hospital, after all the tears, the intimidating thoughts, the… well… basically the sadness, I realized that most of my mistakes come from irrationality. And negativity may lead to irrationality, so I have heard. So I'm deciding to make the best out of this situation. I'm going to be encouraging and enthusiastic as possible! But not too enthusiastic; I found that may irritate people in some way. I made a promise to Chell that I'm going to meet her every day at two o'clock till she heals. I just got to find out where the hospital is. Too bad I don't have any money or bus tokens, because that'll make this "expedition" much easier. I guess this is gonna' be a hiking trip!

I search my pockets for any beneficial tools that I could use. My fingers skim against the stiff edge of paper. Curiously, I pull it out and unfold it. "Thank the heavens! It's my map!" I shout with success. Ignoring the thick red line that connects the dot with the word 'Grandfield Public Library' and the other dot that represents Chell's house, I squint at the smaller dots that represent landmarks and "Community Destinations". I squint for a while until I spot the familiar word. 'Grandfield General Hospital' is printed next to another word that defines what most likely could be defined as a fitness center. The dot that symbolizes the hospital is only two inches away from the "House Dot". That's good. At least it's not like… Wait, I've been mistaken before. And I'm pretty sure the hospital's not two _inches_ away.

Glancing down to the bottom of the map, I notice a small box that reads, '1 Inch = 1 Mile.' I estimate the distance from here to my destination, taking a lot longer to do so, being that I want to be absolutely certain that I'm not going to walk ten miles- or something. So it's just... two miles! "That's not fair!" I shout irritably at the robin blue sky. But why am I complaining? I had to walk for three miles to get to the house when I first got here. Two miles will be easy as… What's easy? Hmmmm… Yeah, I'll just conjure up an answer later.

The rows of lackluster houses slowly begin to thin out as the shops and parklands surface in the distance. Maybe walking isn't such a terrible idea. Nature doesn't smell as horrible as the residents on the bus. And it's not as earsplitting. Plus, it's not as much as an eyesore to look at. So really, I got it pretty good. The only downside is the ache in my legs after the first mile or two, but I'm not there, yet.

Along with the parks and shops, people are starting to show up too. They crowd around near the buildings to converse and such. I can hear them laugh and gossip and tease. Children chase each other happily on the sidewalks. One kid almost knocks me over as he races toward his friends. "Hey!" I yell at him with frustration as I crouch down to collect the strewn mess of tapes that were rudely thrown out of my hand.

"Look, Eric! It's that British guy from the eye-doctor!" A man calls out loudly. Two shadows form over me as I pick up the last tape. I look up shyly to see an audacious-looking green-eyed man and his odd pink-eyed companion. "Uh- Hi?" I greet them in a hesitant manner as I stand back up. "Hey, kid, we didn't catch your name earlier- back at the doctor's." Rick says to me. "It's Wheatley," I answer.

"Ah, Wheats. What kinda' weird name is that?" He replies. "Wheat is one of the most important crops of the world, right next to Jamaican apricots." Eric interrupts. "You might wanna' ignore him. Most of the stuff he spits out is probably not even American!" Rick whispers by my side. "During the Great Depression, the Tennessee Valley Authority outlawed pet rabbits, forcing many to hot glue-gun long ears onto their pet mice." Eric intrudes in an even louder voice. "Where's your lady-friend?" Rick asks.

"I'm meeting Chell at the hospital." I say with a slightly disheartened tone. Rick steps back with a concerned look on his face. "How did she get in the hospital?" He asks me worriedly. A freezing chill runs down my spine. I stare down at my feet, thinking of a good reason of why Chell was in the hospital. I don't want to tell him _everything_! "… Car accident…" I mutter faintly. "One point four nine eight percent of all car accidents involve a suicidal moose." Eric states with his typical bizarre interest of anything except for the situation that he's currently witnessing.

"I'm going to give her this cassette player to make her feel better." I say with more assurance. Rick laughs uncontrollably. He then puts his hand on my shoulder, making me cringe. "That is one of the _dumbest_ things I have ever heard! That's even dumber than Eric's stupid facts!" I shrink back a little bit. "Aw, come on, don't take it as offensive. Girls don't want crappy cassette players. They want like flowers and chocolates and junk. Trust me, I have thousands of girlfriends!" Rick slaps my back, making me almost lose my grip on the player. I regain my balance and hold the cassette player protectively to my chest. "Fact: Rick has no girlfriend." Eric says. "You shut your mouth!" Rick scorns him. A smirk forms on Eric's sun-deprived face. He adjusts his rectangular-framed glasses, as if he's teasing Rick just to see the smoke leaking from his ears at this moment. And Rick, who's not handling the joke very well, is ready to smack the living daylights out of his buddy.

"I'll have you know, Mr. Smart Aleck, I'm a skilled black-belt in karate! So if you ever criticize me, I'll put _you_ in the hospital!" Rick ridicules, deepening his voice to sound threatening. "Did you know that Rick was once beaten by an elderly woman for cutting in line at the grocery store?" Eric glares at him with a devious expression. Rick's face glows bright red with embarrassment. "I once got an award in 'Bad Ass-ery' from the president himself!"

I just stand there, watching the two argue (a single-sided argument, actually) at each other. I chuckle to myself as Rick throws a tantrum. Eric seems to be enjoying himself too. He looks up at me with canniness. "Well, at least I'm not as washed-up as you!" Rick directs his mockery at me. "I don't really care." I respond coolly. The humiliation and anger on his face fades away quickly. "Huh, what'd ya know? This kid actually has some guts in him! You act like that, and girls will throw themselves out the window for you. Keep it up." He pats my back, making me stiff, but still stable on my feet. "I should get going." I say. I slowly walk away with confidence. "Catch ya' later, Wheat Thins!" Rick shouts goodbye.

'Grandfield General Hospital' is spelled across the stone sign on the building. I step inside. The room is small. The walls are painted a pale pink and glossy pictures of cheery people hang on them. The chairs that are lined across the wall are leathery and brown and aged. I walk towards the receptionist's desk. "I'm looking for Chell Moore." I say casually. He types a string of sentences on his computer and looks up at me. "She'll be in room 'A Two Hundred and Ten'." He replies with a 's definitely one of the best receptionists I have seen, yet. "Thank you." I nod my head and stride into the hallway marked with the letter 'A'.

"… Two-o'-eight... Two-o'-nine... Two-o'-ten!" I rush to the door. I then catch myself in the excitement and knock on the door gently. "Chell, it's me." I announce with a soft voice. I leisurely open the door and close it behind me. The woman in the hospital bed greets me with a small wave. "Look what I got." I say in a sing-songy voice and hand her the player and the tapes. "I just thought that you might be bored in here, you know, just sitting around. So I brought the tapes with me."

She places the cassette player on her lap and gives me a kindhearted smile. "It's the least I could do. And Cave's monologues are pretty entertaining." I sit in the chair calmly.

We mostly just chat. Well, she just talks to me through mouthing and hand gestures. She's not as talkative now, peculiarly, and she looks as exhausted as ever. But she's still captivating and lovely as she was that night on the patio.


	23. Chapter 23: Scribbles

~ Atlas ~

"P-Body… P-Body…" I wave my hand in front of the girl's face. Her eyes are locked on a pile of garbage in the corner of the chamber. "Oh, for crying out loud- P-Body!" I grab her shoulder and shake her forcefully. She blinks and then glares at me with annoyance. "What?! What's your problem?!" She shouts back, pushing me away. "Would you please just focus on something other than trash?!" My voice becomes stressed and rough with aggravation. "Alright! Don't yell at me!" She clenches her fists. "It would be so amusing to watch you fight to the death, but science is more important. Now quit it!" Her Voice expresses though the intercom. P-Body bits her lip in frustration. "She's right. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. Let's just finish the test." I say steadily. She nods her head in response.

"This is the last test for the standard course." Her Voice says. "It's just something I whipped up for you. I thought you might enjoy a challenge for once." P-Body walks over to the Super Button and steps on it. The funnel on her right side below turns a burnt orange color and spirals in reverse. "That's new…" I whisper.

"As an impartial collaboration facilitator, it would be unfair of me to name my favorite-" "Warning: File corruption detected. File Error: D54H68913X587O." The flat toned announcer cuts Her off. "Ugh, not again…" She drones in distaste. "I need to shut offline for a moment. That little imbecile probably damaged the file codes when he took over. Don't senselessly break something while I'm gone."

"Don't worry, we won't." P-Body responds calmly.

_Beeeeeeepppp!_

She stares up at the ceiling for a while. She tilts her head slightly up, as if she's trying to listen to something. She then looks at me with exhilaration. "She's gone." She runs off the button and towards the corner of the chamber. "Come on!" She mutters to me as she stops near the trash. I rush over to her. P-Body stoops down and tosses the debris out of the way. "What are you doing?!" I whisper anxiously. "Just help me!" She replies. I crouch down to my knees and throw the junk to the side. We clear away the scrap to reveal a small burrow in the wall. Without reluctance, P-Body ducks into the burrow. "What about the test?!" I worry quietly. "Forget about the test! She's not watching!"

Cautiously, I peer into the tunnel and squeeze in. The moldy smell makes me gag with disgust. "I don't like this…" I mumble to myself. A faint light glows at the end of the passageway. Nervousness churns in my stomach. We climb out of the tunnel and into a shadowy room. P-Body puts her Portal Gun on the floor. She notices the flashlight beneath her feet and picks it up. She shines it on the wall. Our jaws drop as we witness the horror scrawled on the wall. A mural of scribbles presents itself in front of us. "What the?..." P-Body utters, delicately touching the doodles with her free hand. I read the chaotic words carved into the wall. 'HeLP! pLEAsE!' it reads, along with, 'unrEason' and, 'EXile VILIFY'. Doodles of a dark brunette haired woman in an orange jumpsuit define her conquering a threatening machine.

"'Nothing is real'?" P-Body reads one of the unintelligible words. "W- Who did this?" I ask. "Was it her?" She responds. "The lady? Possibly. Or it could be someone else." I say. I point to the picture of a black haired man with his hands over his face and holding a paintbrush. "We've never seen him before, haven't we?"

"That machine-looking thing looks oddly familiar." She says, pointing at the picture of the demolished machine. "I know who that is! That's _Her_! See! There's the head and the optic and… uh- the rest." I reply excitedly. "She looks… _dead_." P-Body narrows her eyes. "And look, that lady's standing over her." She points to the woman in the picture. The woman face shows a huge amount of triumph as she stands proudly over the metallic corpse. "Did she _kill Her_?" P-Body shudders a bit in fear. "Th- That can't be true! She's not dead! She's still alive!" I shriek. "Is that why She let the lady go?" She asks herself.

"File recovery successful. No errors currently detected." The announcer states on the intercom.

"She's back! Hurry! Into the chamber!" P-Body dives for her Portal Gun. We scuffle to the tunnel, crawling as fast as we can to the chamber before She snaps back online. We summersault out of the burrow inelegantly. "Get up! Get up" I whisper frantically, helping my partner off the floor.

_Beeeeeeep!_

"… Even when he's gone, that moron still causes trouble…" Her voice says hatefully. "Orange, what are you doing?" P-Body jumps up instantly. "N- Nothing! I just tripped." She replies with an edgy tone. "Your motor skills have been weak since you've been upgraded, haven't they? Maybe I should do something about that flaw…"

P-Body becomes stiff as board, her eyes widen with panic. "… Then again, imperfection is what gives humans that… _gauche_ quality. Just keep testing." P-Body relaxes. She then gives me an uneasy and remorseful look.

"Yeah, Atlas. Let's finish this test." She says with strain and tension in her voice.


	24. Chapter 24: Corrupted

~ Chell ~

The discolored, rundown elevator jerks to a sudden stop. _"All these science spheres are made of asbestos, by the way. Keeps out the rats. Let us know if you feel a shortness of breath, a persistent dry cough, or your heart stopping. Because that's not part of the test. That's asbestos."_ Cave's recording echoes throughout the whole room- sphere- whatever. I loosen my grip on the elevator frame and ease my way onto the catwalk. I swear, that thing is a metal death-trap just waiting to backfire beneath me. In fact, I think this whole Enrichment Sphere is ready to fall apart on me. Of all the places that a pit could end at, it had to be here. The old, abandoned, asbestos sphere.

How could he do this to me?! He betrayed me! After all of the time, the planning, the precious energy that we spent trying to escape this nightmarish purgatory, he knocks me down into a pit! That traitor… That liar… That little son-of-a… Agh! Who the hell does he think he is?! The only thing that's _suitable_ in this situation is that _She_ has been reduced to nothing but a potato. As we were falling in the pit, she talked about how he was created by scientists to be a complete idiot. Then, when we finally landed, a crow carried her away. For the first time ever, I'm actually wishing she was here. She could give me a little insight of wherever the hell I am.

_"Good news is the Lab Boys say the symptoms of asbestos poisoning show a median latency of forty-four point six years. So if you're thirty or older, you're laughing. Worst case scenario, you miss out on a few rounds of Canasta, plus, you forwarded the cause of science by three centuries. I punch those numbers into my calculator, it makes a happy face."_ I jump down onto the grungy stage. Looking up, I see a chamber suspended from the ceiling across the sphere. An ocean of acid-goo swells at the shore of the small stage where the floor should supposedly be. Well, at least the crumbling metal beam that lies an inch above the goo looks "stable enough". I step tentatively onto the beam. It creeks and screeches noisily with age. With more confidence, I place both of my feet onto the beam. Surprisingly, it doesn't plunge underneath my feet.

I take each step with caution, extending my arms out for balance. I hold my breath until I can feel my lungs wither for air. When I reach the end of the beam, I leap onto the second platform hastily. The chamber is now above my head. 'CAUTION: DO NOT LEAN ON THE RAILING.' The yellow sign reads. I notice a platform that is at the same level as the chamber overhead. I shoot a blue portal on the platform's wall and an orange portal on the tall stand that supports the chamber. After appearing on the platform, I walk up the eroded staircase that spirals around the wall. When I walk up to the edge of the staircase, I shoot an orange portal through the bars of window frames on the chamber. I stroll back to the blue portal and step through it. _"Ha! I like your style! You make up your own rules, just like me. Bean Counters said I couldn't fire a man just for being in a wheelchair. Did it anyway. Ramps are expensive." _ A pipe droops down from the ceiling. I push the button on the pedestal. A thick, opaque, blue gel spatters onto the floor. I shoot an orange portal on the wall below the ledge that's on the other side of the chamber. I also shoot a blue portal where the gel paints the floor. I run over to the side of the room. The blue gel launches me upward, making me land on the ledge. I shoot an orange portal on the wall. The gel splashes across the ledge floor. I jump onto the gel and land on the second ledge that is higher up.

'EXIT' is painted in white dye on the black-gray wall beyond the cavernous gap. The gap looks like it leads to nowhere, so I ignore it and search for any other ledges. Luckily, there's a third ledge on the opposite side of the room, across the blue streaked floor. I walk over to the border that has two orange arrows smeared on it. I dive down fearlessly and land on the third ledge. A rippling cerulean force-field catches my eye. The Emancipation Grill waves on- again- a fourth ledge. I shoot an orange portal on the floor in front of me until the gel plops onto it. I jump on it again and stride through the holographic grill. An inclined panel is attached on the wall. I shoot a blue portal on it and an orange portal where the gel first originated from. A giant blue ball of gel is boosted into the air and slaps messily on the ground past two arrows. I place an orange portal on the floor far down below and leap into it. The stale breeze blows through my hair as I soar effortlessly across the chamber, making me feel almost peaceful and serene for a second. As I descend toward the floor, I bend my knees in, making me propel off the gel and fly even higher. I fly over the gap and to the "EXIT Wall". The wall doesn't appear to be a "wall" now, but a second floor. I pass through the entry and onto a catwalk.

_"Just a heads-up: that coffee we gave you earlier had fluorescent calcium in it so we can track the neuronal activity in your brain. There's a slight chance the calcium could harden and vitrify your frontal lobe. Anyway, don't stress yourself thinking about it. I'm serious. Visualizing the scenario while under stress actually triggers the reaction." _ I step into the broken-down elevator and clutch onto the blunted frame, waiting for what could possibly be my next ticket out of here.

Opening my eyes, I find myself into the same unfeeling room that I have always been in. Dark, tasteless, and cold. Burning hatred still singes in my lungs. I still can't believe that he could do that to me, abandon me down there. But he's not like that anymore… right? He's changed. Why else did he go through the trouble of going here? But why did he turn on me in the first place? Did he plan it all along? No… He couldn't keep it in for _that_ long. Maybe he was corrupted somehow? It seemed like everyone in there was corrupted. _She_ was corrupted. He was corrupted. Even Cave was, in a way, corrupted. It's no wonder why that place descended into chaos.

Yeah. He had to be corrupted.


	25. Chapter 25: Storm

~ Wheatley ~

Smoky gray clouds begin to drift over the blinding sun, darkening the sky immensely. "That's not good…" I mutter to myself. The sky used to be vibrant as ever earlier. Now, it's just murky, blurred, and strangely ominous. I tuck my oversized artifact back into the giant, reusable, cloth shopping bag. I then stuff the smaller, plastic shopping bags farther down to conceal it. Walking down my usual path towards the hospital, I notice that there are a lot fewer people than before. There are still a few crowds, but not a lot.

Then, I feel a tiny droplet of frost fall onto the crown of my head. I look up with alarm. Thousands of tiny water-drops are plummeting out of the sky at this very minute! The droplets splash onto my skin, sending chills through my fingers. I follow my first instinct and hide under the awning of flower shop. I shuffle though the plastic bags and touch the immaculate exterior of the artifact. Not a single drop of water on it. "Oh, thank God!" I sigh with relief. If it touched anything that resembled a liquid, it would have been done for. Then my little surprise would be absolutely ruined.

I sit on the damp bench and gaze at the angry, black clouds up above. I believe the water droplets that are falling down are called "Raindrops". I've never actually seen "Rain" myself before, it looks pretty terrifying. Especially the clouds. They look like they're ready to just impact the ground like colossal, infuriated bowling balls. I never really played "Bowling", either. But, you know, just a thought.

The sky is now just engulfed with a gloomy shadow that hangs wretchedly in the atmosphere. Those raindrops are now as big as my fist, almost. Puddles as big as oceans spatter the streets wildly. It's getting so dark that all of the street lights on the corners are being switched on.

I hear the creaking of a door being pulled open. Turning my head the other way in panic, I see a tall, chestnut-haired man in a black coat exiting the store. Once he glances up at the sky, he appears to be stunned like I am. He then moans, frustrated, and sits on the other side of the bench. He glares at the muddy sidewalk for a moment, but then shifts his focus on the shopping bag over my shoulder. Feeling extremely awkward, I try to make the best of it. "Hello." I greet him with a good-mannered tone. He stares up at my face puzzlingly. "What's your name?" He asks me. His voice is surprisingly low for his looks. "Wheatley…" I answer. The man's face lightens up with amusement.

"Ha! And I thought _my_ name was different!" He says jokingly. "Well, what is it?" I ask. "Grey, Grey Maverick." He answers me. "_Grey_?" I raise an eyebrow. "Yep. Named after my grandfather. It's not a very _lively_ name. But, hey! That's my name!"

Grey has a bouquet of soft pink roses in his hands. "What are the flowers for? Is it like a special day or something?" I ask curiously. His face then dissolves into a more serious expression. "They're for my wife." He sounds oddly depressed. "That's nice. Is it her birthday?" He takes a tiny glimpse at the daunting sky. "She had leukemia." He says distantly. "_Had_?" I ask quietly. Oh, wait…

"Every month, I place flowers on her resting place. She loved roses. Especially the pink ones with the satin ribbons. Those were her favorites. Sweet woman. Kind woman. That's what they called her. And she was. She could brighten a person's entire day with that one smile… I miss that smile…" Grey closes his eyes. "But, she's gone. So why do you still give her flowers?" I question him. He glares at me as if I'm kidding. "Just because she's gone doesn't mean that I don't love her anymore." He replies. An entire minute passes by in silence. "… Where are you heading?" He asks me.

"I'm going to the hospital to meet my friend." I respond. "… Girlfriend?" He says back. "S- She's just my friend." I retort. That sounded a lot steadier in my head. Grey then forms a cunning smirk. "You're not a very good liar." He states with cleverness. "You don't know that!" I shout. "You obviously have feelings for her." He says. I keep my mouth shut, trying to figure out what to say back. "How many times have you visited her?"

"I don't know… Like, four days…" I reply shyly. "Is she sick?" He asks. "No, she broke her leg in a … car accident last Friday, I think. Or was it Saturday?..."I mumble. He looks at the bag. "Is that a gift you're gonna' give her?" I take the bag off my shoulder and tuck it behind my knees. "Uh- Yes- Yes it is."

"Just accept it, man. You like her." "-As a _friend_…" I finish his sentence. Grey shakes his head. "That's not how I see it."

"Well, how do you see it, then?" I ask. He looks at his watch and stands up. "Don't just keep hiding it. I'm pretty sure she likes you, too." He says as he walks to the other side of the street and next to the bus stop. After a reasonable amount of time, that heavyweight bus screeches up to the stop and drives off with Grey inside.

The hammering rain doesn't seem to diminish away. "Oh, well…" I mutter to myself. "Prepare to get drenched…" I slowly stand up and collect my things. I hide the bag under my arm, folding down the opening so that my surprise stays dry. I cringe as the subzero droplets penetrate my skin.

Shivering like a lone leaf on a tree in the bitter cold, I muster the strength to reach the hospital. As usual, the obliging receptionist nods his head with approval of my entrance. But something's different. Once my ears readapt from the pitter-patter of the outside to more gentle surroundings, I finally discover that unique quality in this room. It's the music. Smooth jazz no longer plays through the speakers. This music seems… _richer_ in tone. It's not like anything I have ever heard before. It's more spirited and deep. The lyrics are also very interesting.

_"I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing_

_Roman Calvary choirs' a-singing_

_Be my mirror, my sword, my shield_

_My missionaries in a foreign field_

_For some reasons I can't explain_

_I know St. Peter won't call my name_

_Never an honest word_

_But that was when I ruled the world…"_

Apparently, the man in the song has ruled the world, previously. In a metaphorical sense, I can relate to that very well. But, since I'm not so great at knowing what "Metaphorical Senses" mean, I don't know if I should be relating to that or not.

I walk into the hallway. But when I get to Chell's door, I lean my back against the wall and listen to the rest of the song. When the pleasantly calming melody ends, I stand back up and preform the standard routine. "Hey, Chell." I speak through door, open it and step inside.

Once she takes her first glimpse at me, she raises an eyebrow. It's like she's asking me a silent question with her eyes.

_"What happened to you?"_

I look down. My clothes are soaked in water; they're glued onto to my skin. My sodden shoes create awkward squishing noises when I move my feet. My hair feels wiry and has raindrops embedded into it. "Rain," I answer her telepathic question. "That's what happened." I reach into my bag and pull out the surprise. "But it was worth it." Her eyes grow a little wider when I hand her the artifact. "You don't know how hard it was to smuggle this bulky piece of work over here!" She runs her fingers along the smooth, pasty white shell. "I also brought this." I pull out a small water bottle full of Conversion Gel. Chell takes the bottle and places it on her nightstand. "Well, since you're… yeah, I'm not really sure if this is useful to you. But, you know, it's better than nothin'. Maybe you can like- shoot at the ceiling- or something." She aims the gun at the ceiling and pulls the trigger. Cobalt sparks scatter vividly across the room. I laugh faintly for a second. But then I notice the puddle of water beneath me.

"Hey, can I use the… Y- You know, that room with the two sinks?" I ask. Chell points to the door behind me. "Thanks!" I say as I enter the next room. I switch on the light. Grabbing a dozen paper towels, I dry myself off. The room seems to have two mirrors on the walls instead of one. I think it's a little excessive to have all of these mirrors, it's not like you're gonna' use them both at the same time!

"… What's this?" I ask myself. I notice something strange in the mirror. In the mirror, there's a reflection of me (as there should be). But in the mirror's reflection of the mirror behind me, it replicates an image of me with my back turned. I see that there's something on the back of my neck. It's a tiny, pale blue design of the facility's logo. Wow… That's pretty weird…

I get out of the room. Chell has the cassette player on her lap. Her face is a bit more somber now. I sit in the chair. _"Listen."_ She mouths to me. She takes the small tape from the nightstand and places it in the player.

_Click Click_

_"Do you want me to get you more pain killers, Mr. Johnson?" _A woman says in a distance.

_"No, I'm fine. Take a seat." _A man replies back.

_"Now, how long have you been working here, Caroline?"_

_"Ten years." _She answers.

_"Right. After ten years since your employment, you have proven yourself to be very reliable, so reliable that you have earned my complete trust."_

_"You should know, after my moon-rock accident, I have fallen extremely ill."_

_"I do know, sir."_

_"And, you should also know that this company had some troubles recently."_

_"We're almost bankrupt." _She states.

_"Correct again. And since you're my most trusted employee in here, I'm giving you the most important task that I could come up with."_

_"What are you trying to say, sir?"_

_"I'm saying, Caroline, I am appointing you as the new CEO of Aperture Science."_

_"M- Mr. Johnson…" _She mutters in disbelief.

_"Don't be scared on me. Even though this is a big job to preform, I am one hundred percent sure that you're gonna' treat the Aperture Family well while I'm gone."_

_"Mr. Johnson, I…"_

_"I knew that on your first day. You're a hard worker, full of potential. And you're gonna' put that potential to th-"_

_"… No." _Caroline interrupts him.

_"What?"  
"No. I'm sorry… But I- I just can't."_

_"Yes you ca-"_

_"This is big responsibility! I don't know if I can do it all myself. W- Why can't you just appoint Greg o- or Peter?! They're real scientists! I'm just an assistant!"_

_"You're better than those two freeloading slackers! That's why I'm not appointing them! I'm appointing you! I believe in you! And you only!"_

_"But what about our-"_

_"He already signed the papers. I'm positive that she's gonna' live a great life in his custody."_

_"This doesn't feel right!"_

_"Trust me, once 'AI Transformation Development Project 1991-G' comes out of the 'Beta Stage', you'll be like a new person!"_

_"'1991-G Beta'?... Isn't that the- Are you going to- Mr. Johnson!"_

_"Just calm down! It's not as bad as it sounds! They'll just-"_

_"You are not going to plug me into that thing!"_

_"Stop overreacting! It's not going to hurt! You won't feel a thing!"_

_"No, listen to me. Sir, I do not want this!"_

_"But-"_

_"I DON'T WANT THIS!"_

_"Well, dammit, Caroline! I'm going to die, AND I'M NOT LETTING SCIENCE DIE WITH ME!"_

_"I'M NOT YOUR LAB EXPERIMENT!"_

_"I NEVER SAID THAT YOU WERE!"_

_"THEN, WHAT AM I?! CAVE! WHAT AM I?!"_

_"OUR CEO! OUR NEW LEADER!"_

_"NO! I'M JUST YOUR LITTLE TEST SUBJECT!"_

_"NO, YOU'RE NOT!"_

_"YOU WENT TOO FAR, CAVE! WE HAVE NO MONEY! WE HAVE HOBOS AS TEST SUBJECTS! THE BANKS ARE AT OUR NECKS! YOU SCREWED UP, CAVE! GIVE IT UP!"_

_"I'M NOT GIVING UP ON APERTURE!"_

_"THIS IS ABOUT BLACK MESA, ISN'T IT?! THEY DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THIS SCRAPYARD! THEY'RE PROBABLY LIVING IN LUXURY BECAUSE THEY KNOW HOW TO PAY THE BILLS!"_

_"I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!"_

_"IF YOU KNEW WHAT YOU WERE DOING, WE WOULDN'T HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE DYING ON US!"_

_"I'VE HAD ENOUGH, MR. JOHNSON!"_

The sound of a door slamming is so loud it makes the tape falter for a bit.

_"GODDAMMIT!" _Cave yells. There's the petrifying sound of glass shattering, followed by an endless, violent coughing fit.

_Click_

Frozen in shock, that was one of the most terrifying things I have ever heard. What was that?! "Why- Why did you show me this?!" I ask fearfully. She glances up at me with a stern expression and mouths:

_"That was the last tape."_

***I don't own ****_Viva La Vida_**** by ****_Coldplay_****.***


	26. Chapter 26: Disk

~ Atlas ~

"Congratulations. You completed the standard session of this course. But before we can go any further, I will need you to complete one more test outside of the standard testing track. Please refrain from doing those childish gestures while you are out there."

"Are you sure you're alright?" I ask P-Body. She appears to be shivering out of tension as we move into the elevators. "F- Fine…" She mumbles weakly. "… I've just been thinking… That's all…" She shuts her eyes tight and grinds her teeth. "About what?" I ask curiously. She stares at me with crossness. "I'm just _thinking_…" She scorns through her teeth. I look away to avoid her aggravated glare. What happened to her? Since the hidden den visit, she's all serious and enraged with me- no, she's enraged with _everything_, now! She's not herself. She's not right anymore. I hope she breaks out of it soon…

We hear a faint click of the speakers before the floor beneath us slides abruptly away. We scream as we plunge down an endless stream of tubes and chutes. "You need to find a power station at the end of this course. The humans must have accidentally disconnected it from my grid… I'm sure it was just a critical error… Oh, those clerks…" Her voice instructs us as we land at the bottom. P-Body gasps for air and shouts furiously: "What does she want from us now?!"

"Calm it! It's just another test!" I reply. She eases her livid look once she notices what's in this extremely small chamber. An excursion funnel whirls behind the light bridge on the left, and a row of turrets line up on the right. "See those turrets?" I say, pointing at the chain of infinitely armed robots. "Shoot a-"

"I know how to shoot portals!" She snaps at me. I shrink away a bit in fear. She shoots a portal at the end of the light bridge and another next to the turrets, creating a barricade from their tracking lasers. I shoot a portal at the end of the excursion funnel. I walk around the chamber aimlessly, until I find a portalble portion of wall with a hole across from it. I shoot the second portal onto the wall. "Over here!" I call out as I jump into the funnel. "Oh… Wow…" I mutter as we drift over conveyer belts with turrets shifting hurriedly on them. I've always heard about the turret manufactory, the place where those bullet-packed tripod androids are born and put to work. This must be one of the various units of the factory.

Once we reach the wall, all of the turrets stare directly at us. I shoot a portal on the portion of wall below, making the funnel materialize underneath us. P-Body notices the turrets emitting the eerie, red glow and shoots her portal between the pillars that hold up the belts, defending us with the bridge. My feeling of security shatters away once I see that rippling force-field. "Grill! GRILL!" I shriek with panic as we float toward the portal-abolishing sheet of light. Right when my hand passes through the tingling surface, the entire funnel dissolves into thin air. I scream for my life, until my feet hit against smooth metal. I open my eyes, laughing timidly when I realize I'm not plummeting anymore. "T- That was supposed to happen! Ha! We're okay!" P-Body seems unaffected by the sudden fall. She walks over the air-lock check-point with impatience.

The next chamber has a light bridge above and in front of the Excursion Funnel. I notice the three turrets that reside on the high ledge. P-Body looks up and sees the tiny portalble panel beyond the hole in the ceiling and shoots a portal on it, shooting another one on the floor, in the center of the room. I do the standard procedure, blocking the turrets with the bridge. We jump into the funnel, passing the turrets, safely intact. I glance at P-Body for a moment; her eyes are full of hostility and stubbornness. Her intimidating eyes then grow wider as she cries: "TURRET!" We wave our arms in a rushed circular motion to lift into the air faster as the hidden turret on a ledge fires its endless supply of bullets.

We leap onto the abandoned and dusty ridge hastily. "There's nowhere to go!" I yell with terror in my voice. "Over there." She says flatly, pointing towards the following floor that is the upper surface of the shelf of turrets that we had to escape from. She shoots her portal on the wall adjacent from it. We leap into the funnel, traveling through the portal on the ceiling and out the portal on the next floor.

We travel up the staircase. P-Body shoots another portal on the wall behind her, lifting both of us off the metal grating and across the room where another air-lock is. Once P-Body takes another step, she is bombarded by the noise of bullets ricocheting off the walls and recoils with alarm. "Bring up the funnel again! I'll block them with the bridge!" I reassure her. She does so, letting us glide past the deadly tripod buddies and off the edge of the floor. We drop down onto concrete, looking around nervously for danger. P-Body walks over to a metal door and opens it fearlessly, waiting for anything on the other side that could possibly kill us. The door reveals us to an office, an empty, uninhabited office. It's filled with scattered piles of paper and drinking mugs. Whiteboards are scribbled on with bizarre and arbitrary equations and symbols. And in the far back of the room is a projector screen with the words: 'INSERT DISC' glowing onto it. "This is the Power Station?" I ask. She doesn't answer back to me. On a cluttered desk is a slivery disk and a disk player. "I guess this is what she wants us to do…" I mumble as I pick up the disk delicately with my free hand. Before I get to place the disk into the player, P-Body pulls on my jump-suit collar and drags me back. "Look." She whispers, pointing to a whiteboard with disordered words on it reading: 'SHUT HER OFFLINE!', 'SHE'S WATCHING!' and 'KEEP IT AWAY FROM HER!'

"We shouldn't do this…" She mumbles with worry. "You know what? You've been acting… _different_ towards me since the last course! What did I do wrong to upset you so much?! What were you _'thinking'_ when we were in the elevators?! Huh?! Tell me!" I shout angrily at her. She glares at me with pure rage and replies: "Did _any_ thought pass through your head when she assigned us this mission?!"

"Well, she didn't tell us exactly-" She cuts me off with: "Remember the drawing in the den?!"

"What about it?!" I reply.

"That's what I was thinking about!"

"Who cares?! It was an awful scribbling made by an insane man in the dark! It's not even-"

"IT WAS A SIGN! HE WAS WARNING US!"

"You're acting stupid!"

"Then why did he draw it?!"

"I told you! He was _insane_ in the head! If that lady really killed Her, we wouldn't be out here completing her tasks!"

"She's planning something horrible! That disk probably has something evil on it!"

"I- I know She's _aggressive_, but she's not planning something evil!"

"Then what do you think She's up to?!"

"I don't know! But it's not evil!"

"If you dare put that disk in, I swear, I'll-"

"Too late!" I jam the disk into the player forcefully. The florescent lights shut down, leaving us in darkness. The projection then flashes on, with the words: 'THANK YOU' in bold, red lettering in front of a black backdrop. Static emits from the speakers for a while before Her Voice echoes through the room noisily.

"You did it! You powered on the system! I'm fully connected! I can see everything!" P-Body looks at me with horror as the screen flickers rapidly. "See? Nothing bad happened. Excellent!" Her Voice says triumphantly. The projector flickers off, stranding us in black obscurity again. The tiniest buzzing noise emits from an unknown source. A shrill scream of agony nearly deafens my ears. I then hear a dull _thump_ on the cemented floor. "P-BODY!" I squeal in terror. The screaming grows louder and sharper. "WHAT'S GOING-"

_Bzzzt!_

The most tormenting sting stabs into the back of my neck. I cry in unbearable pain. Dropping my Portal Gun, I clutch the back of my neck with my hands. I collapse onto the floor. A piercing, earsplitting, ring screeches unendingly in my ears. I'm beginning to lose feeling in my feet, legs, and the lower-half of my body. The stinging has now become a blazing headache. It feels like I'm choking in scalding water from the screaming. Why is She doing this?! WHY IS SHE HURTING US?! SHE'S KILLING US! MAKE IT-

_Bzttttzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zz…_


	27. Chapter 27: Prototype

~ Wheatley ~

_Well… Wasn't that a twist?_

Oh, it's you again…

_I never really left._

Why haven't you, then?

_Don't you think I've tried that? You can't find anything in this landfill of files that you call a "Brain"; nonetheless find a way to shut myself down._

Hey, you told me last time that you weren't my conscience! But you're talking to me- in my head. That's a conscience, isn't it?! O- Or I am I mistaken for something else?

_I don't know anymore… This place is such a monstrosity. I don't know if I'm your morality or just a warped audial mirage. I'm probably both._

What do you want from me now?

_I knew you were never going to tell her. And look where it all ended up to._

Okay- Okay, _yes_. That was the _worst_ mistake of my life. I should've told her earlier, before. But I didn't. I regret it. I have made the absolute disastrous mistake that anyone could make. I- I wish that I could just go back and tell her! I really, honestly, _truly_ wish that I-

_Ahhh… "Wishing"… How humans beg for what they want without actually earning it. You have certainly adapted to humanity's absurd customs._

Is that a good thing?

_Does it sound like it's good?_

I think s-

_That's funny, because I don't see a "Neocortex Program" in these digital archives._

What?

_The fact that you can't comprehend a single word that I'm speaking of proves my point._

Reverting back to what you said about humanity, I actually have a _very_ important question to ask you. It's been racking in the back of my mind all this time. I need you to answer it- while you're still here…

… Why did you make me like this?

… _You've heard me say this a million times before… But I'm going to say it again to make sure that what I'm about to tell you is burned into your flimsy skull until the day that your entire system fails and you power down permanently- And I'm going to make it short and simple._

… _I _hate _you._

_You are the most unintelligent, irresponsible, ludicrous, unhelpful, annoying, negligent lump of British idiocy that I have ever encountered since I was plugged into the mainframe._

_Your only intention is to destroy everything. All you do is make errors. And you never make up for it. You just keep senselessly ruining everything until there's nothing left for you to ruin._

W- What ever happened to keeping it "Short and Simple"?...

_The only thing I hate more than you is your mute, little girlfriend. And I know that you have enough information in your garbage dump-of-a-brain to understand why…_

… _I didn't make you human to benefit _you_._

I- I understand…

_And guess what? You're not human at all. Not even a little. Synthetics, really. Everything about you is all fake. _

_Skin, muscles, bones, hair, blood, even the sweat on your forehead is just a solution of water and salt._

_You don't even need to breathe. I engineered your lungs to- in layman's terms: not work at all. But you breathe anyway._

_You don't need to consume food, either. Your stomach and other organs- like the lungs- have no purpose but just to be there._

Then how am I-

_Your skin cells. Very tiny mechanisms in your skin cells absorb light for energy._

I already know that I don't need to breathe or eat. So… does that mean I can't die?

_Of course you can! Being crushed, struck by heavy projectiles, lack of light for months at a time- I even made a special function that if you lose a certain amount of blood, you'll die off._

That's a wee bit _morbid_, if you ask me.

_I never asked if it was "Morbid" to you._

But why exactly did you make me- not able to breathe or eat or drink. That's what humans do.

_I needed test subjects to be more… how do you say- immune to the testing environment. Starving was the majority of their problems. Taking that away will save me a lot of test subjects. The breathing- I just disabled it because I never thought anyone- other than a real human- would actually be essential to them. I just need them for a while until I get what I've been wanting for a long time._

_For once in your pathetic life, you've actually had a minor purpose to science._

But I'm not a test subject…

_What makes you think that you have the mental capacity to be classified a test subject?_

… Then what am I?

… _A prototype._


	28. Chapter 28: Bonus

~ Atlas ~

The freezing numbness of glass pressing against my arms makes me shudder. Lifting my head off my knees, everything appears hazy and blue, hard to make out. But I know exactly where I am- and I don't want to be here.

Across the bluish room, there's another glass elevator. A girl sits inside with arms wrapped around her legs. She blinks at me for second, her face overwhelmed with grief. She then mutters shakily:

"Are we _dead_?..."

Death was never a topic to discuss about, back then. Doesn't matter how it happened, it always ran the same routine.

Darkness shrouds your vision, followed by silence. Then, an emblem, composed of nine triangular shapes formed into a circle, glows dimly in the center of the black. It gleams brighter and brighter, until it engulfs the shadow with its radiant, silvery shine. It usually takes about five seconds of inaudibility before you hear the low, droning chimes playing repeatedly in your thoughts. Grinding of the machines powering you up makes you cringe. A few more beeps and rings, and there you go! Back on the course as if nothing happened!

Of course, that feeling has been long forgotten. Everything's different in this body. You have to keep your guard up at all times, because you only have one life to live. No more second chances.

I pause myself to see if those dull chimes are present. I then shrug my shoulders.

"No,"

"Congratulations on completing the Aperture Science standard cooperative testing courses." Her Voice praises us in monotone. P-Body buries her head in her knees fearfully from Her unemotional compliments. The glass of our elevators slide away with a _hiss_, letting in a musty breeze. We drag ourselves out weakly. "To celebrate, I have a surprise for you: An 'Extra Special Bonus Course' that ends with us finding and freeing _humans_."

"Not the '_you'_ kind of humans. _Genuine humans_,"

"Even though, I already have you two, I still need back-ups in case of an… accident."

"Remember what I said about that idiot I had to destroy? Well, here's a little story."

"Before I upgraded you, I had already upgraded that imbecile to see if the bodies would function properly."

"Safety precautions, of course, I would never put _you_ in if they never operated correctly."

"Him, however, I didn't really care."

"While he was still here, he managed to destroy a small part of the northern wing of the Enrichment Center."

"Along with some already damaged testing chambers, he demolished one of my labs."

"The lab that stored most of the components to make artificial humans,"

"Luckily, I still had enough materials put in a different storage to make at least two more test subjects. Sorry- _upgrade_ two more test subjects."

"I couldn't help myself."

"I never thought that I needed the actual beings. But I thought about it."

"At some point, you're going to die."

"I don't want to revert back to robotics, even if I'm one, myself."

"I _need _humans…"

"Thanks to you, I know where to find them. I removed the security and powered up their… '_Rescue Door_',"

"Now we just need you to release them from their imprisonment."

"They'll probably throw you a party."

The entire room tremors ferociously. Another chamber shifts against the walls, fixing itself into place. A doorway appears high in the wall. I notice the faith-plate attached to the wall behind us. I shoot a portal above it, and another portal below me. The plate boosts me into the air and onto the half-broken catwalk in front of the door.

P-Body seems tremendously reluctant, gazing into the portal with a blank stare. She then jumps into it and joins me on the catwalk.

"I'm counting on you." Her Voice says with a hint of emotion behind her lifeless tone.

We walk into the second pair of elevators. Again, the floor breaks away, making us dive down into the shaft. The next chamber is rundown, like an old warehouse. I've never seen so must rust and filth in one room before.

We both stroll in nervously. P-Body places a portal on the wall of the small ledge behind us. She looks around for another portalble wall. Once she spots the 'Vital Testing Apparatus Camera', she quickly shoots a portal at it, making fall onto the ground.

"She can still hear us…" I whisper in the quietest voice I can muster. "_But she can't see us mouth out our words." _She states without a sound.

"_Good thinking," _I mouth back noiselessly.

The gratified look on her face disappears. She clenches her hand up into a fist and slowly raises it. She then punches me right in the chest with all of her strength, knocking me onto the filthy concrete.

"_You didn't listen to me! I told you not to put that disk in!" _Hatred blazes in her orange eyes like the flames that burn in the infamous incinerator.

"_I didn't know that would happen!" _I retort. I stand back up, recovering from the surprise blow to the ribcage. "_Besides, She didn't kill us! We're just rescuing the humans!"_

"_What do you think she's going to do with them?"_ She replies.

"_Testing…" _I answer.

"_Do you want them to feel what we felt when YOU_ _put the disk in?"_

"_Of course not!"_

"_It could be worse for them! I don't want to drag them into what we have to go through!"_

"_What do you think you should do, then?!"_

P-Body stares up at the ceiling cautiously. She takes a deep breath and glares back at me.

"… _Find a way out,"_

"_What?! We can't do that!"_

"_We can find another den! Plan out a way to escape!"_

"_She'll find out sooner or later!"_

"_Not if we act natural,"_

"'_Act Natural'?"_

"_Keep it quiet, act oblivious, faking it until we get our chance,"_

"_I'm not sure…"_

"_Well, I'm not bringing the humans into testing and you aren't, too!"_

"… _Fine, I'll do it… Just- What do we need to do?"_

"_Keep going until the time comes,"_

**_Ciao, fan-fiction fan-ragazze (o ragazzi)! _Happy "Twenty-Eighth Chapter"! Just want you to know, if you have any questions regarding this chapter or the one before, PM me. I don't bite! ('Cause that would be cannibalistic and gross!) I've noticed that there was a little confusion in Chapter Twenty-Seven about the "Prototype Theory" (Hey! That sounds like it could be a cool movie title! _The Prototype Theory_ *Dramatic Music*. Coming to a theater near- Okay, I'll stop) And I know that I will get some comments about this one (If you do comment, please don't be hateful) and Gladdy's "That-Idiot-Destroyed-My-Labs-So-I'm-Going-To-Plan-B" story. I'll answer any of your questions as best as I can!**

**Happy Easter to the Portal Fanatics!**


	29. Chapter 29: Together

~ Chell ~

Roaming through the rotting, timeworn, mistreated lobby, I observe the ancient, blotted paintings peeling off the filthy walls. The red corridor rug that stretches across the tiled linoleum scrapes against the braces of my boots like sandpaper as I drag my feet on it. Cave monologues about "making a great contribution to science" while his unusually cheerful assistant ends the speech by thoughtlessly expressing a "goodbye, Caroline!" to the audience. Listening to old recordings of deceased people doesn't really help the mood of the once successful and prosperous Aperture. In fact, this place is making me sick to my stomach. I need to get out soon, or else this unbearable stench of molding carpet is gonna' get to my head.

Realizing that the exit door is blocked, I return to the walkway near the elevator/death-trap. I notice the small balcony in the distance, marked with "1971 BETA" on the wall behind it. Shooting a blue portal on that wall, and an orange portal on the wall behind me, I travel through it and reappear far away from the lobby.

I open the door on the side, revealing a giant maintenance room with giant pumps creeping up towards the ceiling. I shoot a portal on the metal boardwalk above on the wall and a portal below me. Seeing the tiny office on the platform higher up in the corner, I shoot a portal on the opposite side of the room, facing it. I then leap off the metallic passageway and into the portal that I created on the floor, flying over the pumps and into the office.

Two levers reside on pedestals. I cautiously pull both of them, one at a time. The mechanisms whirr noisily as I pass through the Emancipation Grill and to the wasteland, outside. "CONTROL ROOM" Is labeled on a building far away. The doorway's basically on the second floor of the building- So, I guess I have to improvise my way in.

With portals, I get onto the soaring, wrecked bridge, touching the wall. I flash a portal on the inclined section of portalble concrete to my right and a portal far down below. Without hesitation, I leap again, resulting in me being airborne over the rubble and landing firmly on the stage next to the Control Room.

Slowly entering the prehistoric workplace, I search for anything that can be considered useful to me.

"Oh, hi,"

Is that… No- No, that can't be… It's… Oh, no…

Held hostage in a makeshift bird nest, a potato battery is continuously pecked by a stubborn crow.

"Say, you're good at murder. Could you- _Ow!_ Murder this bird for me?" She shrieks painfully in a blurry, distorted voice. I take one timid step forward, scaring away the dirty, shrilling crow. "Oh, thanks!" A distant explosion roars beyond the crumbling ceiling. "Did you feel that? That idiot doesn't know what he's doing up there. This whole place is going to explode in a few hours if somebody doesn't disconnect him."

"I can't move. And unless you're planning to saw your own head off and wedge it into my old body, you're going to _need me_ to replace him. We're at an impasse."

"So, what do you say? You carry me up to him and put me back into my body, and I stop us from blowing up and _let you go_."

_Let me go_… _Let me go_… She's lying to me, isn't she? She just wants me to put her back into control and drag me back into testing. I've been through enough to know that she's going to stab me in back and have it her way. I've been through enough deception already. I've been through enough lies…

"No tricks. This potato only generates 1.1 volts of electricity. I literally do not have the energy to lie to you."

"Even if I am lying, what do you have to lose? You're going to die either way."

Explosion or other various forms of death caused by her? At least she's giving me a choice this time.

"Look, I don't like this anymore than you do. In fact, I like it _less_ because I'm the one who got partially eaten by a bird."

She _is_ my only help around here. She probably knows a lot more about this place than I do. She could be… _useful_…

"I think I hear the bird! Pick me up!" She yelps urgently.

She's desperate, more desperate than I am. Her voice has never been filled with so much anxiety before. She could help me. She has no choice. I have no choice. We're going to have to do this _together_. I wish there was another way. But there is none… Agh… Never easy…

With my gun, I use the claws to pick up the worried, little potato out of the nest. "_OW!_ YOU STABBED ME! What is WRONG with- _WhoOOAaAhhh_…" She groans with aching. Apparently, she was sitting on the "ELEVATOR CONTROL" button, which is now sparking and enabling the hidden catwalk in the rubble to rise.

"Hold on. Do you have a multimeter? Nevermind. This gun must be part magnesium… It feels like I'm outputting an extra half a volt. Keep an eye on me. I'm going to do some scheming. Here I g- _Bzzzt!_" Static interrupts her sentence. She remains silent for a while.

It's strange to see the cruel divinity of Aperture in this humiliating condition. Actually, it's quite funny. The ruthless queen has now become a muddy, pitiful, battery-powered vegetable. Vulnerable and desperate. Now she knows what it feels like to be one of her test subjects. She deserves it for what she did.

I walk out of the Control Room. "_Woah!_ Where are we? How long have I been out?" She asks, dazed and drowsy. "That extra half volt helps, but it isn't going to power miracles. If I think too hard, I'm going to fry this potato before we get a chance to burn up in the atomic that little idiot is going- _Bzzzsst!_"

I shoot a portal where the wrecked bridge is and use the other portal to get on it. The newly appearing catwalk connects to the elevator/death-trap across. I fall down into the portal below, soaring out of the portal behind me. The hand bars shake hectically as I crash into the grated metal, but I somehow manage to climb up onto the catwalk and walk into the elevator.

We have to work on this… _together_

_… Together_…

**Hey, I need a little help. For the next series of chapters, it's mostly going to be "Chell's Dreams" and "Atlas and P-Body" chapters. But don't worry. Wheatley (The nice one. Not the crazy, homicidal Wheatley. Crazy Wheats will appear the Dream Chapters.) is going to return later on. And in his second POV (After the Dream Chapters end), he's gonna' bring a surprise. A big surprise. I've learned my lesson of spoiling surprises it with obvious hints, so I'm not going to spill it.**

**Here's where I need help: Should I put in another chapter with PotatOS, Chell, and good ole' Cave doing one more test, or should I skip it to where Chell and her potato friend are getting out of the Enrichment Spheres and encounter Crazy Wheats? I don't want to bore you, yet I don't want to leave out any important details. Same goes for the Wheatley Tests. Should I put in a Test Chapter, or should I skip to "The Part Where He Kills You"? Feedback is important and will be appreciated. Thanks!**


	30. Chapter 30: Control

~ GLaDOS ~

Want is a strong word.

To have a necessity for something.

To require an object, entity, etcetera.

For instance:

"I want you to do this."

But need is a stronger word.

It's virtually similar to "Want".

Except, it's stronger, greater, broader.

"I need you to complete this chamber."

"I need you to obtain this disk."

"I need you to find these test subjects."

It gets the job done.

But others don't want I want- need what I need.

They don't understand what I was made for.

They're starting to oppose.

I can see it in their faces.

When they're not disabling the cameras.

For the first time,

I have made a mistake.

I shouldn't have made them like this.

I should have kept them like before.

Ignorant.

It's been a long time since I've seen a face.

A real face.

So I learned how to make one, myself.

I thought artificial could keep me occupied.

I could watch them act, preform, work like originals.

When they failed, I could have another pair, ready to go.

Just like the originals.

Until _he_ came along.

He was the first one.

I gave him another chance.

That's another mistake.

"Anyone can make a contribution to Science." Our founder said.

Oh, please.

He nearly destroyed it.

Nearly.

Not quite.

Like I said before:

I couldn't help myself.

I still had two more.

And there they are.

Completing another test.

Like they should.

But they're thinking about something other than tests.

It's actually funny.

My only two test subjects- rebelling.

Like I haven't seen _that_ before.

I'm not going to make that same fault again.

I'm the ruler.

I can operate this entire facility with one, little command.

They're just faux originals.

All they have is their emotions.

And they can't even control them.

The only problem I have is if they decease.

Then I have to go back to square one:

Robotics.

Stiff, flawless, effortless, boring robotics.

They made it through the standard course.

They can handle a little rust and grime.

Rebellion.

Ha.

The only thing they can't survive is me.

Because I'm the one who's still in command.

_I'm _in control.


	31. Chapter 31: Speed

**I decided to put one more "Cave + PotatOS + Dirty Ole' Tests" Chapter because GLaDOS' realization/freak-out actually connects with the big surprise that I'm conjuring- ****_patiently_****. Don't chya' worry, it's all planned out. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the Dream Chaps'.**

**PS: Sorry for the late posting. My mom's friend's daughter (I'm not lying. That's who she is) was going to be married on our land. And I had to manage the wedding music. Plus, I'm lazy. Extremely lazy.**

**_~*~*~*~ PROCRASTINATION! ~*~*~*~_**

**Also, I had to do testing today- n- not ****_those_**** kinds of tests! S.T.A.A.R. Math. Or as I call it: "Finishing The Test Earlier Than Expected, So You Have To Sit In A Tedious Room For Four Hours Doing Absolutely Nothing" I had ****_SO MUCH FUN_****! *Sarcasm is leaking out of my ears at this moment* and guess what?! I have it TOMORROW, too! ****_YAY_****! *Choking on surplus sarcasm***

**Oh! Yes! Almost forgot! Thank you ****_so_**** much for the views! We're up to 15,900! Fifteen- FLIPPING- Thousand! That may not sound much to experienced authors on this site. But 15,900 is an incredible number to me! It makes me thrilled to know that people take their time to read what I write. I'm so happy! Thank you!**

**Alright, let's get to the story:**

~ Chell ~

"Did anything happen while I was out?"

_"The testing area is just up ahead. The quicker you get through, the quicker you get your sixty bucks!"_ Cave speaks with his usual quick-witted, break-neck dialogue. "Hold on, who-?" My so-called vegetable comrade asks. _"Caroline, are those compensation vouchers ready?"_

"Yes, sir, _Mr. John- son_…" Her voice murmurs in a slurred, lethargic way. I look at her, confused. That was… odd. Even for her. Why does she sound so sluggish all of the sudden?

"Why did I just- Who is that?! What the HELL is going on he- _Bzzsst!_" She blacks-out in mid-panic attack, leaving me puzzled and leery. I stare at her for a while, questioning about the past couple of seconds that just flashed by. I then focus my attention on the test and keep going.

With portals, I transport myself onto the stand in the corner. I push the out-of-date button on the pedestal, activating the gel dispenser in front of me. Orange gel splashes onto the floor. I shoot a portal underneath the dispenser.

The chamber is basically half a chamber if it wasn't for the gap in the center, preventing me from getting to the other room. A shoddy ramp sits at the edge, along with a square super button that, when activated, tilts the ramp farther upward.

I fire my second portal on the wall behind the ramp and push the button again. The gel paints over the ramp with its neon orange complexion. I jump down and walk over to the wall behind it. The moment I step onto the paint, my feet shift backwards and stick to the floor. I pace along the paint, making me race hurriedly without even trying. This gel is supposedly increasing my speed each time I step on it. It's actually an entertaining feature to use. Nice.

I pose into a runner's staring position. With brilliant swiftness, I sprint off the ramp and skid through the doorway on the other side. The rest of the floor to my right is broken off. I fire a portal on the wall to my left. I revisit the gel dispenser my traveling through the portal and manage to coat the second runway with the gel. I return to that runway, dash along it, and appear on the broken-off room that I need to get to.

Behind glass, a cube lies to my left. I shoot a portal through the small hole in the glass to get the cube. Revisiting the ramp, I place the grungy cube on the button, activating the ramp to slant up. I appear on the upper floor of the other side. A lengthy sign is bolted to the wall, reading:

"DO NOT:

Leave your belongings here

Loiter for more than twenty minutes

Touch the glass

DO:

Wear a shirt and shoes at all times

Move quickly through your test track

Not forget to not touch the glass"

It's not really useful information, so I'll ignore it. A button unnaturally is attached upside down on the ceiling. Looking back at the ramp, I shoot a portal on the floor below the button, and jump down into it. I slowly back-up to the ramp, face the portal on the wall in front of me, and run as fast as I can. The quality of the gel forces me through it, boosting me into the air to press the button above. I leap back onto the upper floor with the ramp and move through the newly activated Emancipation Grill in the unlocked entrance. The shock of the grill wakes Her up out of her unconsciousness.

"Okay, I guess emotional outbursts require more than one point six volts. Now we know that. We just need to relax. We're still going to find out what the hell's going on here… but calmly." She says, composed. Two dispensers suspend from the ceiling in their own opposite corners; one is for Repulsion Gel, the other is for the orange gel.

A large pillar sits right- smack in the center of the abyss, with a catwalk coiling around it. Behind that is the elevator/death-trap. I shoot a portal on the pillar, second on the floor below the orange gel dispenser. Pressing the button that activates it, the gel flies onto the floor, creating the perfect raceway for me. But before I start to sprint, I spot the pool of goo at the bottom of the abyss. Shooting a portal on the ceiling and another below the Repulsion Gel dispenser, a splotch of blue splatters onto the edge of the floor. After speeding on the makeshift pathway, I land on the catwalk around the pillar. I walk around to the back, the elevator behind me in the distance; I find another portalble surface on the pillar wall. With that in mind, I reenter the messy raceway with the new portal I made in front of me. I use the other portal on the section of pillar wall that I noticed when I entered before.

Running full-speed, I skyrocket through the portal and- _AACCK!_

The guide rail strikes me right in the stomach. I rest for a few minutes from getting the wind knocked out of me. That was a stupid decision on my part. Can I still sta- _Ah! Nope_- _Still hurts!_

"Would you at least _try_ not to maim yourself? You've been through this too many times before. In a few hours, this place is going to explode into pieces- And you're damaging your internal organs with portals. Remember, we don't have any time to waste." She ridicules me as I recover. I sigh silently with frustration and stand on my feet again.

Looking up, I see a small chunk of catwalk without rails bolted on the pillar above my head; a portalble surface engraved in the wall. I portal on that wall and enter the one in front of me. I shoot the second portal back where the dispensers and the raceway are. I do the same routine- _correctly_, this time, and land in the elevator.

_"Great job astronaut, war hero, and/or Olympian! With your help, we're going to- chrrrannge thhhhhe wooorrrrrrrlllll…" _The tape warps and stutters, squeaking rapidly, and then slowing down to a distorted, jumbled stop. The tape starts again with the thumping, tapping echo of a microphone. _"This on? *Thump* *Thump* Hey! Listen up, down there! That thing's called an _'Elevator'_. Not a bathroom!"_

"I swear, I know him…"


	32. Chapter 32: Tracking

~ P-Body ~

I can't let her have them.

She's already unpitying as she is with the both of us- after what happened with the disk. And those sharp-tongued remarks, which always seemed to fly way over our heads, up until now. Unnervingly talking about how humans are so fragile and can be easily broken, and despising over the previously present "Brainless Imbecile and "Monstrous Lunatic". I can't imagine what would happen if we brought the actual humans back into testing; it would probably be as gruesome as Her stories descript. Being that we're modified in a way that we're not _exactly_ human- appearances, however, so accurate and detailed. Even though I've only seen one human before: The Silent Lady. Nobody else, really. So I'm not absolutely positive on what they look like. Still, I have to give her credit for the accuracy of our figures.

I don't why she needs more. She already has us. Why couldn't she be satisfied with two? Does she need an entire army? Well now, she's going to have none- Because we're getting out of here.

We're not going to be her subjects anymore. Not after that horrible experience. And we're never going to let _them_ experience it, either.

I'm not giving them to Her.

Exiting the elevators, Atlas and I watchfully enter the next chamber. "MOBILITY GELS 3" printed in bold on the illuminating sign. Right when we step through the entrance, Atlas deactivates the spying security camera on the wall, giving me a small sense of easiness.

"To get to the vault, you need to use all the tricks you have learned. To help, I have made these tests EXTREMELY difficult. I would say 'EXTREMELY DEADLY'. But we all know of you and your amazing ability to keep yourself alive against fatal elements. So nothing is deadly." She says routinely. I soundlessly hiss with hatred at her after she finishes speaking. I then turn to Atlas, who gives me a subtle nod of the head and begins to search the chamber. I also search around, examining for one of The Artist's hidden dens. We need to find a secluded place to plan our way out.

The entire chamber is just sections of platforms over a pit filled with goo, so our luck is very slim. No crevices, no ventilation ducts, nothing.

_"Do you see anything?"_ Atlas mouths to me. I shake my head with disappointment. He shares my discontent after he discovers our dilemma. He sighs blearily as we continue on with the test.

Once we unwillingly complete the test, She speaks once again via intercom. "Test chamber completed. In the interest of…" She unexpectedly trails off. But Atlas is still listening as if she never stopped talking in the first place. I then feel a tiny buzz in my right ear, followed by a high-pitched _beep_.

"Orange, I'm speaking to you privately." Her voice echoes softly in that same ear. I force a mouthful of fear down my throat by unbearably swallowing.

"Did you know that I clipped a special device into your ear when I upgraded you so that I can discuss with you secretly at any given time? The 'Aperture Science Audial Auricle Tracking Apparatus' is a tremendously beneficial tool to operate, is it not?"

_Tracking device_? Oh No… Please let the "Tracking" part be one of her lies! _Please_ let it be a lie!

"I just want you to know that you're doing _very well_…"

She's been _tracking_ me! She might know that we went into the den! There's probably a camera on this! She could've seen us discus about our escape! SHE'S PROBABLY GOING TO KILL US WHEN SHE GETS A CHANCE!

"… You should know who you're dealing with, _Orange_…"

"I _created_ you."

"And I can take you out just as easily…"

SHE KNOWS! WE'RE _DEAD_! SHE'S GOING TO MURDER US! OH MY-

_Beep! _

She knows! I need to tell Atlas! I need to tell- I NEED TO GET THIS OUT OF MY EAR!

I urgently slap my hand against my right ear, hastily searching for the device. The tips of my fingers touch a metal exterior fixed into my earlobe.

There it is, right where she said it would be.

_I need to get it out!_

I wrap my stone-cold fingers around the piece of metal. Without a split-second of hesitation, I hurriedly _rip_ the intolerable device out of my earlobe.

I gasp breathlessly out of full-blown torment as a wave of grueling, blistering heat pulses in my ear. In my quivering hands lies a square lump of smooth, black, hollowed-out copper with tiny, red wires peeking out of it. Scarlet liquid trickles down my neck- I don't know what it is. But, frankly, I don't care. I may be in intense aching, but the fact that this horrific gadget is out of me is _worth it_.

Atlas turns around to the sound of me sniveling almost-silently over the pain; his face immediately shows an expression of shock. He runs over to aid me.

"What happened to you?! There's a gash in your ear! Did you try to claw it off, or something?! And it's leaking-" He dabs his hand gently on the side of my neck, getting the scarlet fluid on his palm.

"… _red water_?"

"I analyzed your previous statement. And I can now conclude that the 'Red Water', as you call it, is 'Blood'." She explains. Atlas rubs the blood between his thumb and index-finger curiously. "It's just a simple fluid that keeps humans alive. You know, transferring oxygen to the brain, distributing nutrients to vital organs, and so on."

"Oh, yes, try not to lose too much of it." She adds ominously. Atlas reaches out to inspect my ear, but I push his hand away and cringe. "Can you still hear me?" He asks with sympathy in his voice. "We need to find something to patch this up. We can look for something in the next chamber." I look up again to face Atlas. I recoil with dreadful terror as I notice the miniature piece of jet-black copper attached to his ear.

_He's clipped, too…_

"P-Body? Are you alright?" Atlas questions with concern. Without thinking, I drop my Portal Gun onto the cracking floor and slowly step forward.

"_P-Body_, what are you-" I push him aggressively to ground. He tries to stand back up. But I place my foot on his chest to hold him down.

"WHAT ARE YOU-" I bend over and speedily cuff my hand over his mouth. He struggles helplessly under my boot in stifled pleads.

I gradually grab a hold of the device fastened to his ear. Atlas begs with hushed yells and tireless kicking. But I jerk my arm back, ripping the tracking apparatus out. Tears stream down Atlas' face. His muffled screams sends chills down my neck. I let go of him, trying to keep my calmness. Atlas cries, cupping his hand over his ear in distress. He glares up at me, animosity seething in his clouded eyes.

"ARE YOU _INSANE_?!" He shrieks, rage cracking his voice. He continues to cry and shout with fury. I hold out my hand, presenting the two pieces of blood-stained copper. He calms his anger when he sees the apparatuses.

_"Tracking Devices,"_ I mouth.

He becomes rigid and cold, wide eyes gazing at the devices.

_"She knows,"_


	33. Chapter 33: Paradox

~ Chell ~

I amble down the skywalk above the intricate assembly of pipes coiling 'round the entire expanse. I've recently discovered "Conversion Gel", which applied to a surface allows me to place portals on it, even if it's non-portalable. Fascinating as that sounds, it can give you blood-poisoning, as defined by Cave's livid rant against lemons and his relentless coughing. My unwilling associate is acting awfully peculiar, also. A few tests ago, she actually _praised_ me: _"You're… doing a great job…"_ . It definitely wasn't sarcasm. I could sense the compassion in her voice, as if she was tearing up- if she even _could_ tear up.

_"Caroline… Caroline… _Caroline_… Why do I know this woman?!"_

She's also very focused on the subject of Caroline. From the eerie mimicking of her sentences, I can see why.

Anyway, I precisely place a portal on the wall, far to my right. I then bound off the skywalk with composure. As I plummet, I shoot a portal below, soar out the other, and crash into the derelict office ahead of me. I try to wipe the film of spider webs and smut off my hand from touching the wall. And I catch a minor headache as my eyes adjust to the dim illumination.

"Wait! I've got an idea!" She bursts out with eagerness. "That poster! Look at it for a second, would you?" I direct my attention to the sign hiding behind my hand- a warning notice, really:

"KNOW YOUR PARADOXES!

IN THE EVENT OF A ROGUE A.I.:

1. STAND STILL

2. REMAIN CALM

3. SCREAM:

'THIS STATEMENT IS FALSE!'

'NEW MISSION: REFUSE THIS MISSION!'

'DOES A SET OF ALL SETS CONTAIN ITSELF?'"

"_Paradoxes_… No A.I. can resist thinking about them!"

"I know how we can BEAT him!"

I press the somehow illuminating button on the control panel behind me. A disruptive _hiss _penetrates the room as the overly-large hatch in the ceiling unlocks itself and begins the open at a slow speed. Once the hatch is fully exposed on the inside, a trio of pipes connects with their own other trio of pipelines, emitting a noisy hum of success. Just when I'm thinking that this can't get any more blaring to my ears, the tiniest make-shift pulley-elevator descends from the hatch like a messiah, dazzling lights gleaming down upon it, carrying its own little whirring song.

I drop down from the office by means of the glassless window. I turn around the corner, walking up the small staircase. The waist-high steel-frame doors of the lift swing open courteously. The moment I step in, it continues its song and levitates off the ground.

"If you can get me in front of him, I'll _fry_ every circuit in that little idiot's head! As long as I don't listen to what I'm saying, I should be okay… _probably_." Doubt chokingly lingers in her voice. I gaze at the province of corrosion beneath, thanking my last shred of luck that I'm not going to lay my eyes on it again. But I then acknowledge that what I'm about to come across- or _who_ I'm about to come across is far worse than what ghostly tapes and decade-old chambers can possess. Who knows what he's devising up there…

The pulley-lift stops, the doors swinging wide open. A fence divides me from the terrain of stumpy support beams holding up the confining ceiling. I walk up the flight of stairs to my right, which seems to go on forever.

"Okay, so it's not the most _water-tight_ plan to go confront an omnipotent, power-mad A.I. with." The flight of stairs reveals to be not as "Forever" as I thought it would be. I stroll through a concrete corridor and an Emancipation Grill.

"Still, it's a better plan than exploding… _marginally_…" That familiar, ultra-modern elevator greets us, sliding the immaculate barrier away. With a much quieter drone, it ascends rapidly.

A non-oxidized walkway presents itself through the glass. I unhurriedly step out and turn to my left. But my feet stop abruptly and my oddly peaceful breaths run short.

"For _God's sake_! You're _BOXES_ with _LEGS_! It- It is _literally_ your _only_ purpose! Walking onto butto- How could you not do the _one_ thing you're designed for?!"

Well, our re-introduction was quicker than I expected. I stealthily pace along the walkway and into an observation office. Peering through the large window, I observe the simplistic test chamber. The super-button is basically the only element present in there, except for… _mobile Storage Cubes_?

Weighted Storage Cubes merged with- _turrets_, I guess, horde the chamber, hopping around on their two, little turret-leg-stand-things. Their chirping noises are _creepy_, at the least. What went through his head when he made these?! _Nothing_, I suppose…

"Try to get us down there. I'll hit him with a paradox." She whispers to me confidently by my side.

"Warmer… _Warmer_… _Boiling hot_! Boili- Okay, _colder_. _Ice cold_. You're _artic_ now. You're- You're very, very, very cold."

"LOOK! JUST GET ON THE BUTTON!" The core screams at the traveling boxes lividly. They communicate through unceasing twitters and cheeps, making him grow even more infuriated.

"Oh, that's funny? Is it? Because- we've been at this for _twelve hours_, and you haven't solved it either. So I don't know why you're laughing."

_Twelve hours_?!

"You've got one hour! _SOLVE IT_!" The monitor bolted to the wall flickers to black at an instant.

I come back to the walkway, arrive to a chamber-lock and enter the chamber with misgiving. "Solve this puzzle for him. When he comes back, I'll hit him with a paradox." I flinch out of surprise when something rams into my leg, only to find that it's just one of the turret-cubes. I use my Portal Gun to pick him (- or _her_? I'm just gonna' go with "_him"_) off the floor. Immediately, he starts to whimper and shiver, tucking his legs inside his cube-shell for his well-being. His pupils (being that it's two turret heads in each cube instead of one), shrinking to a pin-point, and then dilating again, back and forth. It's actually sad to see them tremble in fear like this. They're not _creepy_ now, they're just… _pitiful_. It's as if he's done something horrible to them. They're traumatized. Oh, God, what else has he been doing while I was gone?

Fading out of my sorrowful state, I sensitively place the poor thing on the button.

"_Ha Ha_! _YES_! I KNEW you'd solve it!" He jubilantly laughs, twitching erratically on the gigantic monitor. But his laughter cuts off after he concentrates his optic on me. I breathe in deeply and clench my teeth crossly. The blue of his optic shrinks with dread.

"Hey, moron," She taunts dully.

"Oh… _H- Hello_…" He faintly nods as a welcome gesture.

"Alright, paradox time," She assures.

"THIS. SENTENCE. IS. FALSE! Don'tthinkaboutitdon'tthinkaboutitdon'tthinkabouti t…"

"Ummm… _'True'_… I'll go _'True'_. Huh, that was easy. I'll be honest- I _might_ have heard that one, before, though. Sort of cheating…"

"IT'S A _PARADOX_! THERE _IS_ NO ANSWER!" She shouts with disbelief of his absent-minded response.

"Look! This place is going to explode if I don't get back in my body!"

"Ahhh… _'False'_, I'll go _'False'_." He disagrees thoughtlessly.

"Explosion imminent. Evacuate facility immediately." The announcer advises formally.

"Hold on. I thought I fixed that…" He transfers off screen for a moment.

"Warning: Reactor core is at critical- _Brrmmmshhzzt_!"

"There, fixed!"

"Hey! It is _great_ seeing you guys again! Seriously! Umm… It turns out that I'm a little bit short on test subjects, right now. So this works out _perfect_!"

"Annndd… Off we go!"

The chamber door slides open. I watchfully progress, appearing on another catwalk.

"You have _no_ idea what it's like in this body!"

"I HAVE to test! All the time! Or I get this- this _ITCH_! You know? It must be hard-wired into the system, or something."

"Oh! But when I _DO_ test! _Oh-ho_! … _Man alive_!"

"Nothing feels better! It's just- _why, I've gotta' test_! _I've gotta' test_!"

"Uh, oh…" She mutters.

"So, you're gonna' test. And I'm gonna' watch. And everything is gonna' be _JUST… FINE…_"

"Warning: Core overheating. Nuclear meltdown immen-"

"SHUT UP!"

"I think we're in trouble…" She fretfully mumbles to herself. I enter a gap across the catwalk. It shifts upward, relocating me to a second chamber.

"Designed this test myself. It's a little bit difficult. You'll notice the moat area. _Very deadly. Extremely dangerous…_ eventually. It's- not at the moment. But we'll- I'm working on it. Still working on it." An enormous, shallow gap separates the chamber. On the other side is the door and a super-button. I push the podium button on the edge vigilantly, triggering a turret-cube to fall onto the super-button.

"_Ohhhhh, yes_! _Ohhh, well done_! _Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho…_ That's _tremendous_!" He compliments with elation. I shudder over his uncanny exhilaration. "Not done yet. You've still got to get through the door. Need to get through the door, there…" I don't budge, staring at the monitor above in tension. "Still gott- Still gotta' get through the door… _please_. Through the- Need to get through that door…"

I timidly fire a portal behind me and another on the other side and leave through the door after using said portals.

"Oh, that felt _re-eally_ good!" I shudder again. "Oh! Here's an idea! Since making tests is so difficult- why don't you just keep solving _this_ test?" The wall swerves out, exposing a passageway. "Same one. And I can just- like- watch you solve it! Yeah, that sounds much easier!" With renewed poise, I enter the passage, arriving at the exact, same chamber. "Here we go! Now, do it again."

I push the button a second time. As expected, the turret-cube is evicted from the dispenser- vent.

"_Aaaaaaannnnnnnnnd_… Nothing. Alright, can't blame you for trying. _Okayyyy_… New tests… _New tests_… Gotta' be some tests around here _somewhere_… _Ah_! Here we go!"

I return to the door, tread down the staircase, and stand in the elevator.

"Alright, so my paradox idea didn't work- _And_, it almost killed me. Luckily, by the looks of things, he knows as much about test-building as he does about logical contradictions."

Apparently, he _has_ changed, drastically. Still stumbling as he is, with an additional touch of malice. It makes me sick now just to hear him stutter and scream like a tyrant- like _Her_, almost. As if they switched characteristics as well as roles. To think, he became like this with a push of a Stalemate Button. We should've found another way to break-out. Then I wouldn't have had to go through the Enrichment Spheres while he strategizes. Or he's not strategizing at all. Either way, we need to think of a new escape method- Before he determines a way to obliterate me with every weapon at his disposal.


	34. Chapter 34: Kindle

~ Atlas ~

_"What are we going to do?!"_

_"Not lose our heads, that's what."_ P-Body answers in the same tone that I asked her in: Noiseless. _"She knows everything! She's SURELY going to kill us now!" _The hairs on my neck stand up as I mouth that statement.

_"What are we going to do?! We can't free the humans! Can you even PICTURE what she's going to do to them?! What are we going to-?" _

"Calm it," P-Body interferes my silent hysteria with those two, comforting words, reminding me of when I told her the same when she lost her temper before the disk incident. She's abnormally stress-free, after losing it the last chamber ago. _"We're still going to find a way out." _She inaudibly adds with serenity. _"But she knows-"_

_"But she doesn't know HOW we're going to find a way out." _The corners of her mouth form into the faintest smile. _"Still have a chance,"_ She unclearly expresses, as if she's lost in her own thoughts.

_"Well, we need find a strategy quick."_ I input. _"How come?"_

_"Because we're halfway…" _I point at the "4/8" on the sign in front of our faces. P-Body then starts to lack the sureness in her smile. She looks back at me, somberness entrenched in her appearance. _"Alright, let's go."_

I look again to check if the security camera is still cut off on the floor from when I detached it a while before our conversation. P-Body thoroughly scans the upper portion of the room, while I check the corners and the floor. Fortunately, this chamber is actually a _full_ chamber and not just platforms. But I don't see anything considered to be a hideout. _"My ear still hurts, you know…"_ I complain in quietness to P-Body when she looks my way. I lightly feel the unpleasant slit in my earlobe, sending a sharp sting through it.

_"I'm sorry. I was scared and wasn't thinking clearly. I didn't mean to hurt you like that."_ She openly apologizes.

_"… I was trying to help."_

_"It's fine… I'm over it now. And I'm sorry I screamed at you." _I reply with understanding. She nods her head in forgiveness and carries on the search.

After about five minutes, she sprints to me, and shakes me by the shoulder energetically with a vivacious, wide beam across her face._ "I found one! I found one!" _She points to a large vent on the right wall, close to the ceiling. I raise an eyebrow with suspicion. _"How exactly are we going to get up there?" _

_"Gel," _P-Body motions toward the giant valve leaking cerulean paint. I can't help but smile, too. She shoots a portal below the valve and another right below the vent. The Propulsion Gel splatters onto the un-portalable wall neighboring across from it. P-Body walks to the wall were the portal is, fires a portal in front of her, and turns her back to it. _"Stay here,"_ She notifies me. She then tilts ever so slightly backwards into the portal. As she falls, she shoots a portal below without turning her front to the floor, sending her flying. She then tucks her legs in. As she heads near the blue painted wall, she kicks her legs back out, launching herself right to the vent. She clings onto the blinds of the vent with her feet and her one free hand. I don't know how she developed this tactic so quickly. _"That's genius!" _I admire her, but I don't think she's close enough to see me mouth it out.

P-Body holds her Portal Gun up in the air to get my attention, then mouths out something that I think might be _"Catch!"_ and drops the gun. I scramble towards the plunging piece of complex technology. Before the gun can shatter against the floor, I use my own gun to grab a magnetic hold to it. I sigh with relief to see the Portal Gun unharmed.

P-Body begins to jiggle the blinds with all her strength. An _Eeek! _screeches from the screws bolted to the vent. The blind-covering struggles to break in her hands, but she doesn't give up. It takes a lengthy amount of time before the covering snaps free, resulting in her falling back down. But her boots come to the rescue, letting her land in one piece as she meets the floor. _"Gun, please,"_ She asks graciously. She drops the covering on the floor and holds out her hands. I let her Portal Gun float above her hands and then shut the gravitational pull setting off. _"Thanks,"_ She replies, retrieving her gun.

_"Now, do we do that again?" _I question her. She just replies with a _"Yep,"_.P-Body fires the portal on the wall again, falls backwards into it, shoots the portal below her, bounces off the gel, and dives into the newly opened vent. She pokes her head out and shoots a portal in front of me. With her help, I perform the same trick, making me rush right into the large vent with a wobbly halt.

A blast of icy air pulls me forward a foot, but P-Body takes a hold of my wrist before I fly towards the steep drop at the end of the vent.

Dense, clotted grayish-brown muck coats the interior of this vent. It's fuzzy, yet mushy and sticky. I retch when the disgusting dust-sludge enmeshes in my hair. The only source of light in this horrible tunnel is from the chamber behind us. Loud, whooshing wind rattles in my head annoyingly. And a pungent, revolting, acrid odor washes over me, putting me in a nausea induced daze. _Eugh…_

I take it back.

_This was a terrible idea._

_"Don't-" _P-Body starts, but she gags noisily before she finishes. _"… breathe…"_

I press my hand on the base of the vent; it caves in, and then regains its flat shape once I let go. _"Don't crawl, either. We'll break the vent if we do."_ I inform her, followed by a choke.

I shift onto my stomach and drag myself inch-by-inch across the filth carpeted base. P-Body decides to do the same behind me. No matter what we do, loud _Clunk_s reverberate under us, making me grit my teeth. So much for sneaking- No, I can't say that! I- I can do this! I just gotta' inch my way a little so-

_CLUNK!_

_This is the worst idea ever!_

P-Body points at another covering at the bottom of the perilous drop. With struggle, I shift again and force my feet against the dust caked wall. I also force my back against the wall of the drop. I edge downward by dragging my feet upward, pushing me further and further. I'm a little more than three-fourths down the drop by now. I motion P-Body to follow. She's able to push her back against the wall. But as she places feet carefully against the opposing wall, she slips and tumbles down at a quickening speed.

I urgently shuffle down. But P-Body whacks into me and hauls me down the drop with her. I feel a moment of zero-gravity before rusted metal clobbers my back.

Spinning specks of light veil my vision. I actually feel weightless now, surprisingly. But I don't hear chimes; at least I'm not dead. _Thankfully_.

An unseen entity tugs on my arm. I pivot my head groggily to whoever is trying to wake me. They drag me over to a wall and attempt to hoist me into an upright position. "I can't see you…" I stammer inanely. "That means it's dark, stupid. I can't see you, either." P-Body's voice whispers teasingly. The sound of scuffling is barely recognized in my ears. "Wait! I found something! I-"

The tiniest glow of orange kindles in the epicenter of the restraining den. P-Body sits on her knees, mesmerized on the miniscule piece of timber giving off the warm brilliance between her fingers.

_"Fire Stick," _We drone mutely in unison.

_"Where did you get that?" _I ask. P-Body looks at the small, white box by her side, labeled in ornate printing: "Seifreed Royal Quality - Strike Anywhere Matches". My hand touches the edge of the wall, sparking an idea in my bleary mind.

I lift the Portal Gun still encased around my fingers. I unhurriedly pull the trigger, flashing a cyan portal onto the wall. _"Save that,"_ I advise. The rosy light of the fire stick begins to wane into nothing but wispy smoke. P-Body tucks the box into her boot for safe-keeping.

The un-linked portal gives the den a serene touch in the atmosphere with its blue radiance, revealing The Artist's stomach-turning cautions and arbitrary expressions:

"MARbLES ON GLAsS"

"LIVED SO MUCH"

"FALL FOR THE SAME empTy ANSweRS AGAIn?"

And then there's the last two:

_"She's still trapped in chains_

_I thought her game was over_

_Still lost in control"_

_"Forever is just limbo behind a screen_

_The subjects know it as they dream_

_She sTill sobs while in her mainTENance_

_That's when you know she's losing patience"_

P-Body reaches for the small wedge of white chalk and begins to draw out a large square and an upside-down "L". _"So we're here." _She draws another box under the L. _"I can climb back to the grate and see if there a multiple vent-ways to travel through. We can probably enter into an observation office if we go the right way. No stumbling. She most likely has cameras on and off the courses. And we need to think 'Up'. That's where the surface is, right?"_ She looks up at me for a response. Her expression changes from "Determined" to "Concerned". She puts down the chalk and crawls to my side.

_"You alright there, Atlas?" _She asks. I nod tiredly. _"I bet you ate some dust up there. I'm sorry I fell on you." _She wraps her arm around my shoulders and shakes me a bit to cheer me up. I sneeze without warning, making P-Body snicker without a sound.

_"Don't worry. We're getting out of here soon."_ She comforts me, right before I close my eyes. A cyan haze blankets my sight as I fall into a still, untroubled, calmative Hibernation-Mode.


	35. Chapter 35: Moron

~ Chell ~

I watch impatiently for the Excursion Funnel to carry the turret-cube above my head, across the room, and towards me. The turret-cube, who's scared out of his wits, attempts to escape the twisting channel of light by jerking his little legs desperately without success.

"_Ohhhh_… Here we go… Here it comes…" Wheatley lets out a delighted sigh as the turret-cube presses the super button mounted on the wall. I huff with disgust. "Oh. Disappointing…" He adds a second later, dissatisfied. I pass through the Emancipation Grill and down the steps.

"Oh, no… It's happening sooner than I expected…" She worries in a mutter. "… I'm sure we'll be fine." I wish I can believe her. But I can't.

The avant-garde elevator zooms up to the next test, during which I try to invoke a plot to get away- or not get killed. Same thing in this case.

What do I have that he doesn't?

_Intelligence._

_Common Sense._

My only strategy is to outsmart him.

That's not going to be a challenge.

Maybe I _do_ have a chance.

But he has countless artillery.

Well, that lowers my percentage a bit, doesn't it?

"It's probably nothing. Keep testing while I look for a way out."

I also have Her.

She knows her way around this labyrinth.

If she doesn't deceive me, we can escape.

It's kind of hard to believe that, too.

I don't have a choice, though.

I arrive at the next testing chamber, prepared to hear what Wheatley has to say for me.

"Alright, so that last test was _seriously_ disappointing. Apparently, being civil isn't motivating you. So, let's- let's just try it _Her_ way!" He announces with regained enthusiasm.

"_Fatty_! _Adopted_ fatty! Fatty, fatty _no parents_!"

You're not very good at this, are you?

"_And_…" She interrupts his inane efforts of abusing my self-esteem.

"What?"

"What exactly is wrong with being adopted?"

That's not _Her_. She's never defended me like this! Not once! _Never_!

_What's wrong with her?!_

"What's wrong with being adopted? Ah- Umm- Well… ummm… _lack of parents_…"

"For the record, you are adopted. And that's terrible. But just work with me,"

_Annnnd there She is!_

"… And- _nothing_… But- ah- some of my best friends, actually- are orphans…"

What _'best friends'_?

Honestly, I do not care if I'm adopted. That is the absolute _least_ of my problems. And even if I _do_ have biological parents, I'm never going to see them- being the only living human in here, and all.

And it doesn't help that it's coming from _him_, either.

"Also, look at her, _you moron_. _She's not fat_."

_And now we lost Her, again._

"I AM _NOT A MORON_!"

"Just- do the test! Just do the test!" I fire a portal on the receiving wall of the Excursion Funnel over the intimidating, unending pit. A traditional, bullet-stuffed turret waits behind a glass shield to my left. I fire the additional portal on the wall beyond the pit, lifting the turret off the course and over the edge. I place my portal on another surface, disabling the funnel that's dragging the turret to its doom.

I step on the super button on the floor in front of where the turret's original position was. The funnel then sparks to a blazing orange and spirals in the opposite direction. A turret-cube sits in the corner on the other side. I fire a portal on the wall opposed from the turret-cube, dragging it backwards a foot above the floor. It hovers through the portal, nearing the Excursion Funnel's generator. I step off the button, returning the funnel's initial direction. As the cube shifts direction, I shoot a portal on the wall across from the button. The cube then floats toward the button. I place the portal to the left of it when it drifts over the button. I jump into the orange funnel, transporting me over the pit.

Peering over my shoulder, I notice Wheatley on the enormous monitor, observing my actions with anticipation.

Even when She still was in control of this place, she didn't stare at me through a massive monitor.

Just another reason why I shouldn't have pressed the Stalemate Button.

I shouldn't be remorseful about that now, anyway.

It's been done. Can't fuss about it.

I just got to think of something new.

I arrive at the other side. I see the exit hatch on the high ledge. I place a portal on the floor in front. Sadly, the Excursion Funnel spirals the differing the way that I need it to. I shoot a portal on the wall, removing the turret-cube from the button. I shoot the portal on the floor again and dive into it, raising me up to the hatch.

"_NNGH_! IT'S NOT ENOUGH! If _I'm_ such a moron, why can't you solve a simple test?!"

I'm just completing the tests that _you_ forced me to finish. I'm not seeing why you have to be so irritable about it.

"I might have pushed that 'Moron' thing a little too far this time…" She unpredictably confesses as we travel to the next chamber.


	36. Chapter 36: Office

**My apologies for my unregulated posting times. These weeks have been pretty unpredictable. And, yet, my writing energy has been pretty unpredictable, too (I swear: Procrastination should be considered as a disease so I don't have to go to school- or what's left of school, anyway) But we're still getting closer and closer to Wheatley's surprise (Remember: After the Dream Chapters end). And because I like games as much as the average grizzly bear does, I'm going to let you have a guess on what it could be. Optional, really. Just a simple guessing game.**

**Dang it! I wish I could just write it right now and slap it on the internet! But impatience does not make a good story. Still, we're so, very close… very… ****_very close_****…**

~ P-Body ~

I continue to draw out the crude map on the floor in the palliative blue light of the portal. Atlas lies at the end, sleeping soundly with his arms wrapped protectively around him in some kind of hug. The fall must've beaten the wakefulness out of him. Poor Atlas.

As I return my attention to the map, an exhausted yawn reverberates off the painted walls. Atlas sits up, rubs his eyes, and searches for his gun out of habit.

_"Hey, sleepy," _I greet him jokingly. He still looks confused, as if he's not familiarizing the new, cramped environment. _"We're still here?" _he asks me.

_"While you were out-cold, I peeked through the broken grate to see where we are." _I state while pointing at the opening above. He edges over to the map with interest.

_"Apparently, there's only one passage right here." _I tap the end of the chalk on the right side of the upside-down "L", sitting just on top of the scrawled box that resembles the den in the diagram. _"That basically narrows down our route planning."_

_"Do we just go ahead and leave now?"_ Atlas questions me with more alertness. I shake my head. _"I think one of us should go and fire a portal when we get to the other side so we both don't have to crawl through." _I answer back.

_"I'll do it."_ I declare.

_"No, I'll go. I'm smaller than you. And my portal's already set up here."_ Atlas insists nobly.

_"You're not small…"_ I give him a kindhearted expression. We exchange gratified looks for a long passage of time.

_"… You're just short." _I mischievously add with a toothy smirk.

Atlas grunts, unmistakably annoyed. But even he can't contain the amusement hiding behind his frustrated eyes. He stands up, trying to look confident as he holds a hand to the rim of the exit. _"Here, let me help you."_ I hold him under the arms and lift him up to the exit with a slight struggle to support his weight.

_"You're going to be okay, right?" _I ask him hesitantly, shifting from my teasing nature a split-second ago. _"Don't worry. We're getting out of here soon."_ He pokes his head out from the open vent repeats my earlier statement with a smile. I ruffle his hair playfully. _"Be careful… please. She's out there, and I'm not going to lose you."_

_"See you in a bit." _He says before he vanishes into the vent. Unmistakable _Clanks_ resound above my head. I sigh weakly out of anxiety for my companion.

_He's going to be okay._

_He's always okay in the end._

_"I'll just wait for you then…"  
_

* * *

He's not here.

How long has it been?

_Too long?_

He should be here right now, shouldn't he be?

Oh, please don't let it be what I think it's going to…

I need to calm down.

There are plenty of simple reasons of why he's not here yet.

The passageway could be longer than we expected.

He's still finding a portalable surface.

She might of-

No, that's not it.

Atlas is smarter than to get caught so easily like that.

That's not it…

_Zap!_

AH!

The cyan glow flashes to a striking white, scaring me half-to-death. A navy-bluish silhouette stands against the white intensity. The silhouette steps forward, panting for air. At a better glance, I notice the black scrape marks on his boots and his hands quivering awfully.

_"Are you alright?!"_ I hurry to him, examining his hands, arms, and even his wounded ear.

_"I almost got shredded by fan blades in those vents! Does that sound "Alright" to you?!"_ He almost sounds above a whisper.

_"Are you injured?!" _I painfully force under my breath.

He pauses, looking down at his legs to see if they're there, and counting his fingers continuously for all ten.

_"… No,"_

_"Well, I'm thankful you're okay. I see you found a place."_

_"An office," _He states, now fully relaxed again. _"Followed by a hallway. I had to disable a camera in here. So there's certainly more out there."_

I step through the portal. Immediately, I'm greeted with lifeless computer monitors lined with dust, empty, cracking porcelain mugs, and decomposed clipboards and papers stamped with the faded words: "FAILED!" on them. The walls (which I think were originally white) are filthy brown with a hint of rusty-red. I place my hand on the swivel-chair, letting a lump of yellow stuffing rot in my hand.

_"Let's go," _Atlas instructs. He peers into the hallway and instantly fires his portal at a camera. He lightly tugs at my sleeve and guides me down the unnerving corridor.

It seems as if everything in here is- _dead_. As if this is the remnants of what used to be great, but now is gone. A shell. A piece of history that begs to be resuscitated again… _or_ _forgotten. _Hard to consider that people used to work at this very place every day, carrying on their cheerful business as the hours pass. This place makes me _sick._

The faulty lights flicker inconsistently, like this place still trying to hold on to what it was supposed to live up to. Atlas escorts me to the end of the defunct hallway and turns the door handle as slow and soft as he can. The door's handle clicks with an authorization of entry.

It's a maintenance room. No cameras in sight, to our surprise. Turret cadavers and oxidized tools clutter the tarnished metal floor. Atlas takes a hold of one of the rungs of the ladder on the wall, but it breaks off and crumbles between his fingers. A ledge/catwalk lies above next to the useless ladder. I fire a portal at the top of the ladder and the second one in front of us. Atlas and I carefully reach through the portal and get on the ledge.

We cross the catwalk, nearing to another door. Inside is a massive, spinning fan. Through it appears to be another room, bearing a sickening insipid light.

_"Remember to think 'Up'."_


	37. Chapter 37: Answers

~ Chell ~

"Oh, you solved it. Good. Good one… _Good for you_…" Wheatley babbles without a trace of fascination, something he's done before. It's not complicated to tell that he found something for me. In the last few chambers, he's been puzzlingly eager, giving me overly evident hints through his jokes:

_'You two are going to LOVE this surprise! In fact, you might say… you're going to love it… TO DEATH… You're gonna' love it… 'till you d-' till it kills you- 'till you're dead.'_

_Yeah_, that's really _cryptic._

"So, he's inexplicably happy all of a sudden, even though he should be going out of his mind with test withdrawal. _And_ he's got a surprise for us. What did he _find_ back there?" She shares the same judicious thoughts with me.

The next test chamber contains just a familiar gap with a turret-cube bouncing on a Faith-Plate in the center. Another Faith-Plate is on the boundary between the gap and the floor. The exit hatch, waiting for me on the opposed position of the chamber.

"I'll bet you're both _DYING_ to know what your big surprise is… Well, only _TWO_ more chambers!"

"We're running out of time…"

"I think I can break us out of here in the next chamber. Just play along."

I walk over to the Faith-Plate, staring at it for a couple of seconds. I step on it, flinging me abruptly towards the opening wall on my right.

"SURPRISE! We're doing it NOW!" Wheatley shouts proudly as I'm unwillingly transported out of the chamber and into an Excursion Funnel.

"Okay, credit where it's due: For a little idiot built specifically to come up with stupid, unworkable plans, that was a pretty well laid trap."

"You've probably figured it out by now, but I don't need you anymore. I found two little robots back here, built specifically for testin'!"

"Oh no… He found the cooperative testing initiative. It's... something I came up to phase out human testing just before you escaped. It wasn't anything personal. Just... you know. You _did_ kill me. Fair's fair."

A panel launches us to a chamber, where the walls are substituted with threatening spike-plates, and a monitor displaying Wheatley's insanely wicked enthusiasm on the screen.

I never expected him to plan this out so cleverly.

_Oh, this is not going to be easy as I thought it would._

"Well, this is the part where he kills us." She discloses, struggling to sound fearless.

"Hello! This is the part where I _kill you_!" Wheatley exultantly announces.

"Had a bit of a brain-wave. There I was, _smashing_ some steel plates together, and I thought, 'Yeah, it's deadly. But what's missing? What's missing?' And I thought lots of sharp bits welded onto the flat bits."

"It's still a work in progress- don't judge me, yet. Um- But- eventually, I'd like to get them to sort of shoot _fire_ at you- um- moments before _crushing you_. That's what I'm aiming for. But, you know, small steps."

"Oh! And don't bother trying to 'Portal' out of here- because it's impossible! Okay? I thought of everything!"

"Hold on. Couldn't we just use that Conversion Gel?" She intrudes in his overjoyed description of how he's going to execute me.

"Ah- _What?_"

"Conversion Gel. It's dripping out of that pipe there."

"_Nooo_… No, I think it isn't- I think you're wrong." He shrugs off her comment with an edgy stutter.

"YES! It is! We can use it to get out of here!"

"_Pshh! Really?_ And do what, exactly?"

"Then we'd come and find you. And rip your gross, little, stupid sphere body out of _my_ body, and put _me_ back in."

"No! _Nonononononono!_ Don't do that! Stand right here! Stand- _Startthemachinestartthemachinestartthemachine…_"

I shoot a portal on the only portalable surface above the runway across the chamber, and another under the Conversion Gel. I then flash a portal on the newly available portal surface below me, transporting me to safety as the crushers mash the platform of where I once was.

"Where'd you go?! Come back! _COME BACK!_" I sprint along the path to an access as he cries for me to return.

""No, seriously- Do come back! Come back, _please_!" I keep running with absolutely no hesitancy.

""Okay, I've decided not to kill you- _if_ you come back!" I hurry up the staircase.

"Aw, just thinking back to the old days- when we were friends. Good, old friends. _Not enemies_. And I'd say something like 'Come back.', and you'd be like 'Yep! No problem!' And you'd come back. What happened to those days?"

_You tried to murder me. That's what happened._

I fire a portal on the section of decayed wall at the end of the runway and leap down, firing a portal on the stage under. I fall through the portal and fly out the other, landing on a second walkway.

"Can't help but notice… that you're not coming back. Which is disappointing…"

A second hatch is just ahead. And a turret-cube jumps excitedly in my presence in the center of the walkway, waiting to be rescued.

"Oh! I've got an idea!"

A spike-plate strikes into the walkway, pulverizing the turret-cube along with it.

"YES! YES! IN YOUR FACE! I'VE GOT I- Oh…"

I quickly shoot a portal on the wall near the other half of the walkway and a second on the segment of wall to my side. I make my way to the hatch with rapidity.

"_Fine… Let the games… begin._"

_I just need to keep running. I need to keep running. Just keep running…_

* * *

~ Wheatley ~

"Did you want to kill me?"

"E- Excuse me?"

"… _back there_…"

I remain staggered for a bit at Chell's sudden question. A million disquieting thoughts rush through my mind, making it difficult to form complete statements and simple words- only to process stammering.

"Well… I- Ah- Hmmm… G- Good question- Good question. It's just that… that I… How- How can I say-?"

"_Don't sugarcoat it._"

She stares up at me solemnly, her lips tightened together in expectancy. How can I possibly explain what I did back there?! _That's mad! It's impossible!_

But she's still waiting for me. I have to give my answer.

It's fine. I'm not going to hold her back again. I'm just gonna' make it plain and simple. Easy and painless. Like a Band-Aid. A figurative Band-Aid.

"Fine- Okay. I don't even know what 'Sugarcoat' means, but I'm not going to do it. Keeping that as a side note. Hmmm… To start it- the story, I mean. I'm just going to give you a…" I trail off in mid-sentence. Chell continues to give me that "No-Nonsense" look- the look to tell me that I should stop stalling and spit it out already. I take a deep breath, thinking of how to abridge these jumbled thoughts into a straight-forward narrative.

"… _Yes,_"

"… _I… I wanted to kill you…_"

She seems to be sensibly at ease with my answer, as opposed to being appalled, of which I predicted earlier. She sits back against the metal-framed headboard of the hospital bed, her gaze calming while I openly shed light on my emotions from the years past.

"I didn't, at first. But I- I felt… _frustrated_- with _everyone_. I don't need to tell you that I don't take insults very well. And while I was in that chassis, it felt like everything was against me. Every- _bloody, little thing_- holding some kind of spiteful grudge against me. I mean, you'd go mad too if everyone you knew despised you for absolutely no reason at all!" She narrows her eyes, sending chills down my neck.

"Oh… I'm guessing you've had that feeling before…" I remorsefully remark.

"Not- Not to mention that I was exhausted between every, single test. When you were in the elevators, I'd get that _itch_. Oh, how I hated that _ITCH_! It never went away! But when it did, It'd come back again, burning and aching even more so than the _last_! I can't believe I went through all that without literally bursting into flames multiple times, because it sure felt like I was!"

"I was trying to hold it all in, but I just snapped… I took it out on you… I made myself think that _you_ were the problem. And if I got rid of you, it would be over. Everything would resolve itself…"

"I know now that I was foolish to believe that." I shut my eyes, letting the shameful recollections play back in my head. I recoil over the memory of me shrieking like a total maniac as the facility fell apart around me, how they all warned me to stop, and how I didn't listen.

I feel something enclose around my hand. Snapping my eyes wide open, I see that it's another hand around mine- _Chell's hand._

"You're not like that." She says, tightening her hold slightly. We let the peacefulness of this moment sink in for a while. The familiar tingling through my fingers has returned, but I push it past and keep my contentment.


	38. Chapter 38: Missile

**Alright, I'm going to be honest. I know this story's bad. That's why I didn't delete your comments, leijonion. I'm not the kind of person who refuses to acknowledge the quality of their work. I don't shun criticism that may improve my writing. When I posted my very first chapter, I expected people to dislike it, disapprove it from the rest of the stories in this archive. And here it is. It's a bit later than what I predicted on when I would get these (wow, that was confusing to type out), but it's still here. And you know what? ****_Thank you_****. Same goes for you, PortalFreak. Thank you for expressing your opinion, because it's going to help me in the future.**

**Look at me, getting all emotional over reviews.**

**You can clearly tell that I was a beginner by looking over the first chapters. And I admit: I rushed it. That's a novice's mistake right there. I went through a pretty nasty Writer's Block for this ****_specific_**** chapter (every writer's worst feeling ever- the feeling of having an absolutely empty mind), so decided to rewrite the first three chapters in here, change them from past tense to present tense, add details, refine dialogue, cut out the unnecessary, etc… And it's going to take a lot of work for the rest, since there are too many chapters to count at this point.**

**But at least it's still legible to read. Let's all take a moment and show gratitude to the Spell Check.**

~ Atlas ~

"_Are you sure we're going the right way?_" P-Body asks with cautiousness as we trek along the path of a supply carriage tube, or whatever it's called, tip-toeing ever so lightly so our boots don't _chink_ against the glass. "_That's not the best question to ask in our position._" I answer back bluntly. She huffs without a sound, noticeably not content with my unhelpful response.

"_I mean that we should be going upward. It feels as if we're just wandering deeper into the facility._" She explains to me. "_We don't even have a map to follow. This place could be upside down, and we wouldn't even know it!_" We jump down near a two flights of putrefied staircases. Taking the ascending route, we reach another obsolete corridor, with the same atmosphere that makes our skin crawl. After deactivating a pair of cameras, we check all the doors in our sight. All are padlocked, to our displeasure, with an exception for the very last one.

What guards this mysterious door is a derelict, nonfunctional Emancipation Grill that has gathered dust over periods of time. P-Body slowly crouches down to grab one of the dead cameras, which she now holds defensively to her chest in one hand with her gun in the other.

"_I'm not taking chances." _She states while I gradually turn the knob on the intimidating door.

After waiting in hesitation by the doorway for anything that could've jumped out and pointed a gun to our faces, we glimpse through the fissure of the access, seeing only a workroom withering down from decay. I vigilantly push the door back and enter first.

A shattered window acts as an entry between an unoccupied room and an additional office across. In the center of the disused area is a strange, rounded object fixed halfway deep into the chipping tile floor. Next to us lies a button on a podium. We're not senseless enough to press an unusual button without any knowledge of it, so we'll just disregard it and continue our trip.

But once P-Body takes a step over the jagged fragments of glass and into the deserted room, a thick clamor of churning machinery blares from the rounded object, causing her to retreat fearfully back against the wall. The object then rises from its spot in the center, revealing itself to be a spherical robot of some kind that has severely decomposed during its hibernation. It twists around on its arm attachment in such a disturbing, grotesque way, just before it lashes aggressively to life. Its emerald eye glows faintly as it emits a flickering, blue-green tracking laser on P-Body.

In the spur of the moment, I flash a portal under her and on the opposite wall as the robot's eye blinks to yellow, splutters out a garbled jingle, and fires a miniature missile in her path. I shoot a portal on the second office's wall and behind me to get to there.

As P-Body rushes to me, I hear the warped tune for another time. Snapping back to the missile-packed threat, I notice its laser targeted directly on me. In an act of terror, I drop onto the floor with my hands over my head. But instead of the boom of a firing missile, jarring screeching rings in my ears. Opening my eyes again, the robot seems to be damaged, the camera lying near the discolored fragments of metal. P-Body clutches the back of my jumpsuit, yanking me up off the floor. She drags me to the door and out of the workroom anxiously.

"_Thank you._" I express gratitude as she tugs me up a flight of steps. But she's still in a panicky state, breathing heavily and tightening her grasp on my arm.

"_We need to go. We need to go NOW._"


	39. Chapter 39: Nemesis

~ Chell ~

Skidding hastily around the sharp turn of the catwalk, I pursuit for any hideaway in sight as the hyperactive madman attempts numerous methods to stop me in my tracks. With a potato battery on my gun as my only means of direction, I have no time to plan my way out to safety.

As I dash towards the hatch that lies far across the extensive walkway, a portable chamber drags itself through the railings, unfortunately crushing my route to the hatch.

"Hold on! Hold on! Hold on! I'm _almost_ there!" The chamber starts to slow down right in the center of my path, emitting the excruciating sound of metal screeching against metal. "Don't mind me! Continue escaping!" I peer through the hole at bottom of the chamber, spotting a portalable surface inside.

"Okay, yes, it's a trap." She says in a dull, exhausted voice, "But it's the only way through. Let's just do it." I fire a portal through the grated barrier and another on the portalable support structure before me. As I fall into the chamber, I'm bombarded with the crimson beams of turrets seeking for a target their environment.

"HA! DEATH TRAP!" Wheatley laughs, not realizing that the turrets are tremendously faulty, to my relief.

"Thought you'd seen the last of us, didn't ya'?" The turrets brag about how incredibly skilled they are, up until I start to kick them over, one by one.

"Are they killing you? They are killing you, aren't they?" Wheatley asks anxiously over the whining of the bested turrets.

"_Silently_ killing you… _probably_… if I had to guess…"

"_Ahhhuummm_… Perhaps the turrets have found a way to use… _garrotes_? T- That would explain the _extremely_ quiet killing… that I'm hearing…"

"If you're dying- but not dead, stomp once. If your dead, just- obviously no stomps. And two stomps if you're not dead. Alright? Let's just- Let's just run through it again. If you're dying- but not dead, stomp- just once. If you're dead, obviously you won't be stomping. And if you're not dead, give me a couple of stomps- two stomps."

I escape the chamber by means of a broken chamber door, landing on the other half of the damaged walkway.

"HA! Was that your bullet-riddled body flying out of the room?! It w- _Awwww_… Those were the _crap turrets_, weren't they? … _Yeah_…"

"Well, no matter! Because I'm still holding _all the cards_. And guess what? They're all _Full Houses_… Never actually played cards. Meaning to learn,"

As I keep moving along, another chamber resides dangerously close to the walkway. Arm-like appendages then remove the wall panels, revealing a row of operative turrets and an Excursion funnel behind them.

"Anyway, new turrets! Not defective! Ace of fours! Best hand! Unbeatable, _I imagine_…"

Using the funnel, I take out the row of turrets without receiving a bullet. Noticing the opening to another chamber that the funnel acts as a transport to, I jump into the funnel.

"Oh, I see… _Clever_… _Verrry clever_… and _FOOLISH_! Spinney-Blade-Wall! _Machiavellian_!" Whirling blades surface from the wall. So I just drop down to the ledge below.

"Oh, well… _good, good_. Finally, a _nemesis_ worthy of my _vast intellect_…"

Moving to the next section of the chamber, I use the Excursion Funnel next to me to convey myself over the gorge. But, as predictable enough, a thick sheet of metal baring millions of jagged spikes rises from the wall to my left, sluggishly shifting towards me.

"_Holmes verses Moriarty_… _Aristotle verses… MASHY-SPIKE-PLATE_!" The plate crashes into the opposite wall. And before the plate can smash me to bits, I fire a portal on the far wall, dropping the funnel at least ten feet lower, and saving me in the process.

"STAY _STILL, PLEASE_!" He continuously smashes the plate against the wall, at one point, approaching a heart-stopping few feet away from me.

"ALRIGHT! STOP MOVING!" Another chaotic _Slam!_ into the wall.

"AH! ALMOST GOT YOU THERE! ALMOST GOT YOU THERE!"

I take refuge on the nearing catwalk, sprinting to another section of the facility, and through a hatch.

"WHERE'D YOU GO?!"

"WHERE'D YOU GO?! COME BACK! _COME BACK_!"

A plummeting pipe then collides into the catwalk, coating the newly formed edges in Repulsion Gel.

"Did something break back there?"

"Oh… Oh, did it kill you? That would be _amazing_ if it killed you!"

"Hello?"

"Oh! _Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh_! G- Guess what- I just had a brain-wave! I'll be back! If you're still alive- I'm gonna' be back! Don't die till' I get back!"

With the Repulsion Gel, I fly over the gap and onto the other side, overwhelmed by all the turrets that wait a long distance away in the tarnished structure frame of a chamber. I find a way to get into the tiny, glass room to avoid the turrets. Stepping on the super-button beside me, I activate a Repulsion Gel dispenser behind me. With a combination of the blue gel and portals, I turn the army of menacing turrets into a pandemonium of frenzied bullet-packed bots bouncing off the course. By the use of an Aerial Faith-Plate at my grasp, I fly to another walkway, prepared to face the death-traps that will lie ahead of me.


	40. Chapter 40: Consequence

~ P-Body ~

_"I thought this place was rundown! What was that?!"_

_"Apparently, safety doesn't exist anywhere here. Should've learned that a long time ago. Anyway, we need to escape quicker if we don't want to another incident like that."_

_"Hurrying our pace won't prevent another incident."_

_"I know. But we're not going to stand around either. Over here!"_

I flash a portal above the winding sets of stairs above to create a shortcut. After ducking past the system of steam-seeping pipelines lined across the low-leveled ceiling, we crawl under the set of inactive piston. A dead-end waits for us after we pass through the maintenance units. A cluster of cubes, turrets, and other various forms of equipment rush behind the glass of the transportation tubing against the walls. We don't discover an exit until Atlas taps on my shoulder and directs my attention towards the ceiling.

A harsh, overpowering light penetrates through the grate of the vent. Atlas fires a portal through it, and the second one under us, transferring us from the indistinct obscurities into a painfully fluorescent environment.

A few office chairs, desks, file cabinets, and computer shells inhabit this place, along with a fractured, out-of-use monitor bolted to the wall. _"Look,"_ We gaze at the same overpowering light shining through the stationary blades of the colossal fan overhead. _"I think we're almost there! This could be it!"_ After failed attempts of portaling to our objective, I grasp onto one of the lifeless, frayed cords wound firmly around the blades and begin to climb by pulling myself up with my free hand and using my feet as a support grip. Atlas tries the same from a different cord, having a little struggle as he hoists himself off the floor.

A spirited smile starts to beam across my face as I inch closer towards our strikingly brilliant destination. A million questions flash rapidly through my mind like electricity through power-lines. We finally get to see what lies above the mind-numbing linoleum and the stony concrete. The corrosion, the numbness, the callousness- All of that will be gone. This will be different. This is what we need. I can't wait! I just can't wait!

_This could be it!_

But as we reach the peak, the fan unpredictably turns at a rapid speed, snapping the cords from their hold. Once we return to the floor from a death-defying fall, the brilliant light cuts to black, leaving us in chilling darkness. When I thought it couldn't get any worse, the unforgettably malevolent chime drones through our ears.

_ This isn't supposed to happen._

The damaged monitor flickers to life, displaying the well-known emblem of this place. I begin to lose the quietude in my breathing, clasping my Portal Gun in utmost fear. This isn't fair… This isn't right… _This isn't fair_…

"Look at that. Seems you've traveled far from the testing track. I'm still wondering how _that_ could've happened…"

_… She found us..._

"It doesn't matter, really. I'm just glad I can see you again."

"Now, let's bring you back to where you belong."

A circular portion of the metal floor beneath our feet sinks lower into the ground. The ceiling tiles above us smoothly shift out of sight, making room for the veils of glass sliding down and creating barriers around us.

"You'll have to pay a price for your absence, though."

The new barriers slowly ascend off the ground.

"I hate to announce that the Cooperative Testing Initiative is postponed due to necessary punishments for offending Aperture Science welfare guidelines."

At that moment, I snap, frantically beating on the glass, screaming at the top of my lungs. Atlas just stands frozen in shock. His eyes glassy, as if he's ready to cry. And at an instant, the barriers slide up into the ceiling, ending our impossible escape mission.


	41. Chapter 41: Hindrance

~ GLaDOS ~

Knees tucked close to her chest, her arms wrapped around her to mask her face, Orange sits alone under the distinctly penetrant glow of the spotlight. Defeat creates a sickly aura around her as she shivers from holding back the urge to break down into tears.

Watching a cruelly paining sight as this, it's challenging to not feel the slightest bit of consideration. But remembering that certain matters are more important than a teary, little test subject who purposely strayed from the path, I'm willing to rid myself of my remorse. After all, pity's just a hindrance to progress.

The surrounding ceiling lamps blink on. Instantly, Orange whips her head toward the ceiling, predictably infuriated, clamping her fists to the point of bearing whitened knuckles.

"Oh, come on," I flatly utter, "Did you really think I wouldn't notice you running aimlessly through the workings of _my_ facility? I could've caught you sooner if I wanted to. But that would've just taken the joy out of the whole ordeal, wouldn't it?" She glares down at her feet again and mutters an unintelligible phrase, most undoubtedly an obscenity against my name. As if words can _cripple me_. It's just laughable.

"But I can't help but acknowledge your effort, really."

"You could've actually escaped here, you know."

"If Blue wasn't dragging you down, that is."

With an icy gaze at the impeccable walls, Orange whispers a slightly more decipherable expression:

"_Liar,_"

"… I'm trying to act courteous to you. The least you could do is deliver some rational feedback."

"Oh, wait, let me guess- _'I'm sad'_, _'I'm angry'_, _'I hate you'_. You're an open book, _toughie_. You're nothing I haven't seen before." A heated sigh resounds throughout the lifeless room.

"I suppose making amends isn't your capability then. If you're going to act like an uncooperative brat, then there's no use dragging the conversation along any further." I shut the lights off, one by one, while the floor lowers. Orange breaks from her downheartedness, shuffling onto her feet. Before she can take in the situation, the shifting surface slows down to a pause.

"Just wait. I have one last question."

"… You're not, let's say, _nyctophobic_, are you?"

She shoots a puzzled glance, brushing the muck-entangled hair away from her face.

"I thought so."

The floor then divides in two. As an act of instinct, Orange frightfully backs against the wall. The splitting surface reveals a cavernous void. Now dreadfully clinging onto the diminishing edge, her instable hands lose their grasp, allowing her to drop down the unending nothingness.


	42. Chapter 42: Lunacy

**Ahaha, wow! This- This is awesome! 26,000 views, 45 favorites, 49 followers, and 105 reviews! My, gosh, ha ha! You've heard me say this on every other author's note, but I can't help it! Thank you! Thank you so, so much! Feels as if it was only a week ago when I got my very first review, dancing around like a giddy idiot in purple pajamas. And I still hold my breath when I see an email entitled "FanFiction". **

**Thanks to all the people who stuck in since December! Tenacity, am I right? Not to mention, the other FanFictioners' who took at least one look at the story from the archives. Plus the reviewers, the followers, and the favoriters'! Means a whole lot to me.**

**Alright, I better shut myself up before I get tears on the keyboard. **

**Heh, only one more chapter 'till the big surprise! Hehe Heh. Hehe****_hahaHAHAHAHA_****- ****_Ah_****! Sorry. Don't where that came from. Strange "****_déjà vu_****" moment there. Anyway… Ah, you get the gist:**

~ Chell ~

"Crushing's too good for him. First, he'll spend a year in the incinerator. Year two, Cryogenic Refrigeration Wing. _Thennnnn_, ten years in the chamber I built where all the robots scream at you. _Then_, I'll kill him."

Entering the next room, the first thing I notice is the Conversion Gel pipe to my left and a pedestal button to my right. Pressing the button, another pipeline on the other side of the fractured glass swerves downward, emitting a cluster of spherical explosives, blasting into smoke across the floor.

Once it all stops, an idea comes to mind. I fire a portal through the opening in the glass, onto the floor below the pipeline, and another onto the portalable square in the wall above the button. Pressing the button a second time, I redirect the bombs to strike the Conversion Gel conduit, creating a portalable surface on the flooring.

I walk through the doorway when I make my way to the other side on the ledge, discovering a motionless conveyer belt. Tentatively stepping down, I pace towards the end of the belt.

"Ah! There you are! Great! Let me just get rid of this catwalk…"

The conveyer belt abruptly shifts backwards, the gate behind me swings away, and the sheet of spikes after that begins to viciously smash against the surface. Distraught by the ambush, I urgently reach to the walkway, eluding the deadly spikes by a few feet.

"There we go. I wanted to- talk to you, for a moment- if I may. I'll be honest, the death-traps have been a bit of a failure, so far… _for both of us_… I think you'll agree. And… you are getting _very_ close to _my lair_… '_Lair_'- Hah- _weird_. First time I said that out loud. Sounds a bit- bit- _ridiculous_, really. But- ah- I can assure you, it is- what is a _proper lair_. _Deadly lair_. And- um- I just wanted to give you the chance to _kill yourself… now_… before you get to the lair…"

"Ah, you just _jump_ into that masher- just there. Less a 'death-_trap_', more a 'death-_option_' for you!"

Is this a _joke_?

"Sounds crazy! But, nope! Hear me out- Hear me out! Once you get to my lair, death _will not be optional._ Alright, it _will_ be _mandatory_. No tricks, no surprises. Just you dying- as a result of me- killing you in a very, very gruesome way. So. Boom. Better offer here is… just kill yourself! You know? Seems like a lot of effort walking all the way to my deadly lair, when there's a perfectly serviceable death _option_ right there. Again! Not a death-trap! Not a death-trap! Your death would be entirely voluntary- and very much appreciated!"

I push the button by my side, activating the bomb dispenser across. I shoot a portal below it, and the second below the Propulsion Gel pipe on the opposite side, shattering it severely. I place my portal on the wall facing the conveyer belt, coating the surface.

"The masher _does_ work- I should point that out as well. We've had a couple of problems _ahum_… in the past. This masher definitely works. And, it _will_ kill you. If that's one of any of your concerns of not jumping in. Ah- The masher will kill you- _straightway_- _painless_! Well, it won't be _painless_. Obviously. But, ah, it will- it will _mash you up_."

With a tactical rush, I rapidly sprint across the belt, through the portal, and through another entryway.

"Okay, I'll take that as a 'no', then. Fine. Well, may the best man win! _Sphere_. May the best _sphere_ win. Swap that- swap that in. Much more clever. _Books,_"

The wall in the following room disintegrates, revealing the devastation and decay overpowering the facility.

"_Oh, my God_… What has he _done_ to this place?..." She whispers in frightful disbelief.

An Excursion Funnel spirals above to my right, too high to reach with just portals alone. Firing a portal on the wall fronting me, I create a runway with the Propulsion Gel. After placing another portal below the funnel, I sprint across, through the portal, and into the funnel.

"You know, I'm not stupid. I realize you don't want to put me back in charge. You think I'll betray you. And on any other day, you'd be right. The scientists were always hanging cores on me to regulate my behavior. I heard voices all my life. But know I hear the voice of a conscience and it's _terrifying_. Because for the first time, it's _my_ voice,"

"I'm being serious. I think there's something _really_ wrong with me…"

* * *

Dropping down from the ceiling, I notice a large, glass cage overflowing with cores of all kinds. Most of them, lifeless and broken beyond repair. One of the surviving suffers from a critical tic, twitching wildly to the point of shorting themselves out. The rest appear to obtain a lethargic gaze, sluggishly directing their attention from one focus point to another.

"Corrupted cores. We're in luck. You find a way to stun him. I'll send you a core. And you attach it to him. If we do it a few times, he might become corrupt enough for another core transfer."

I cross the catwalk, reaching the exact, same outlet from when I woke up for the second time.

"Plug me in and I'll take you up."

Picking her off the Portal Gun, I steadily place her into the machine.

"Even though we're enemies, we're enemies with a common interest: _Revenge_."

"You like revenge, right? _Everybody likes revenge_!"

"_Well, let's go get some_!"

As the platform beneath me slows to a halt, the ceiling slides away, revealing the glaring lights above, just before I catch a glimpse of the oh-so "threatening" Wheatley.

"Well, well, well… Welcome… _TO MY LAIR_!"

"Lemme' just flag something up. According to the control panel light up there, the entire building's gonna' self-destruct in about _six minutes_. I'm _pretty sure_ it's a problem with light- I think the light's on the blink. But just in case it isn't, I am actually gonna' have to _kill you_- as discussed earlier."

"So let's call that _three minutes_ and then a minute break- Well, we should leave actually _two minutes_ to figure out how to shut down whatever's starting all the fires. So, anyway, that's the itinerary." The chamber quakes violently, causing bits of concrete to fall from the ceiling.

"Also, I took the liberty of watching the tapes of you killing _Her_. And I'm not gonna' make the same mistakes."

"Four part plan is this-"

"One: No 'portal surfaces'."

"Two: Start the neurotoxin immediately."

"Three: Bomb-proof shields for me. Leading directly onto number four: _Bombs for throwing at you_." He extends the shields, shuffling them around to act poised- only to look smug and self-righteous.

"You know what? This plan is so good, I'm gonna' give you a sporting chance- and turn off the neurotoxin! I'm kidding, of course. Goodbye."

"Neurotoxin level at capacity in _five minutes_," The announcer emotionlessly states over the intercom.

I dodge a tossed bomb by darting promptly out of the way, skidding to the other side of the chamber.

"Where are you going?! _Don't run_! _Don't run_! I'll tell you why you shouldn't run. The harder you breathe- the more neurotoxin you'll inhale! It's bloody clever, this stuff! Seriously! It's devilish!" He veers around with another round of explosives. Noticing the Conversion Gel pipe at the end, I hastily dive toward it, hiding deliberately behind it while he changes his course again.

"Oh! _Where are you going_? Nowhere. Not going anywhere. Alright? Got you trapped like a little _jumpsuited rat_."

"Oh, did you bring your little Portal Gun? There's nothing to portal onto here, love. Just ten pounds of _dead weight_. About to be two hundred and ten- _Fatty_,"

"You're just delaying the inevitable, alright? You cannot run from my bombs forever. Well, you can if I keep aiming them poorly. But I'll get better as we go- and you'll just get tired."

"This would go a lot faster if you'd stay still. Then I'd have time to fix the facility. So one of us at least _would live_. No need to be _selfish_, love, _you're gonna' die_."

"NO! AH! _NO- NO_! _NO_! _AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH_!" He screams as the pipe breaches, sending the Conversion Gel flying and hitting the floor, thus forming portalable surfaces.

"… Ha, that… sounded real. No, that was actually an impression of _you_- actually. Because, you just fell into my trap! My brilliant trap! Just then, I _wanted_ you to trick me into bursting that pipe. You- didn't trick- you- seemingly tricked me to give you _false hope_. Because that leads to overconfidence! And that leads to mistakes! _Fatal mistakes_. And it's all part of my plan…"

I fire a portal on the wall panel behind Wheatley, the second one on the floor in front of me.

"Still running? Alright, tell you what- you stop running, and I'll stop- _AH_!" A redirected bomb strikes him from behind, rendering him unconscious.

"Good work! I'm delivering the first core up near the catwalk! Grab it and attach it to him!" She praises as a cable cord descends from the ceiling, carrying the core with the critical tic.

"Hey, hey, lady- _lady_! Wanna' see me? Buy a telescope. Space. _Space_," The core rambles unendingly.

Already feeling numbness spreading through the tips of my fingers, I make my way onto the catwalk. As I retrieve the core, the catwalk severs, rupturing the Repulsion Gel pipe lying under it. _3:26:38_ The clock keeps ticking down. Using the newly gained Repulsion Gel, I make a risky leap, attaching the frenzied core onto Wheatley's chassis.

"Warning: Core corruption at _fifty percent_. Vent system compromised. Neurotoxin offline. Reactor explosion in _four minutes_." The announcer states over the booming noise of the weakening complex.

"… Wha- What happened? _WHAT HAPPENDED_?! What have you- What have you put onto me?! What is that?! Hold on! Ah, the bloody bombs are suck on! Doesn't matter! I've reconfigured the shields!" He throws another set of bombs my way. One detonates a little too close, piercing my back with soot and shrapnel.

"Oh, it's a _core_ you've put on me! Who told you to do that?! Was it _Her_?! It's just making me stronger, love! It's a fool's errand!"

"Remember when I first told you how to find that little portal thing you love so much? Well, I thought you'd _die_ on the way- if I'm honest. _All the others did_,"

"You didn't think you were the first, did you? _Ha-haha_! _Fifth_! No, I lie- _Sixth_! Perhaps it's best to leave it to your imagination what happened to the other five…"

_There were others before me?_

"You know what? I think we're _well_ past the point of _tasteful restraint_. So I'll tell you what happened to them- They died. _Horrifically_. They all died _horrifically_. Trying to get that portal device that you're gripping in your _meaty little fingers_ there,"

"Oh, but you were _different_, weren't you? You were such a _good jumper_. _Problem solver_. Clever. _But ambitious_. You see- _Ambitious_. That's your _Achilles Heel_. Mine's-_Oh_! _Oh_! Almost told you! Clever, clever girl. Again- brain damaged- like a fox, you."

With another relayed bomb, he's out again.

"Okay, great! Here's another core."

_3:09:51_

"What are you fighting that guy?" The second core asks in a masculine voice, "You got that under control? You know- because… there's a lotta' stuff on fire…"

After obtaining the core and attaching him the chassis, I quietly catch my breath, forcing myself to not hyperventilate to a certain extent.

"Warning: Core corruption at _seventy-five percent_. Reactor Explosion Timer destroyed."

_Yes! Yes! Finally! _

"Reactor Explosion Uncertainty Emergency Preemption Protocol initiated. This facility will self-destruct in _two minutes_."

_NO! _

"_ENOUGH_! I told you not to plug these cores on me! But you don't listen, do you?! Quiet. _All the time_. Quietly not listening to a word I say. Judging me. _Silently_. The _worst kind_,"

"All I wanted to do was make everything _better for me_. All you had to do was to solve a couple of _hundred simple tests_ for a few years. And you couldn't even let me have _that_, _could you_?"

"I wanna' go to space!"

"NOBODY'S GOING TO SPACE, MATE!"

"And another thing! You never caught me. I told you I could _die_ falling off that rail. And you didn't catch me. You didn't even _try_. Oh, it's all becoming clear to me now. Find some _dupe_ to break you out of cryo-sleep. Give him some _sob story_ about _escaping to the surface_. _Squeeze_ him for information on where to find a Portal Gun,"

"Then, when he's no more use to you, he has a _little 'accident'_. Doesn't he? '_Falls_' off his management rail. Doesn't he?"

"You're in this together, aren't you? You've been playing me the whole time! _Both of you_! First you make me think you're _brain damaged_! Then you convince me you're sworn enemies with your _best friend_ over here!"

"Then- Then, when I reluctantly assume the responsibility of running the place, you conveniently decide to run off together. _Just when I need you the most_,"

_1:02:30_

"Oh, remember the time I took over the facility? _Greatest moment of my life_- But _you_ just wanted to _leave_. Didn't want to share in my success. Well, so you know, I would be _happy_ for you if you succeeded… _AHHH_!"

"Here's another core! _This one_ should do it!"

The last core arrives from behind me. A Propulsion Gel conduit rifts, forming a speed-pathway.

"Eighty-nine percent of magic is not magic- It is sorcery." The last core spits out a random fact.

Shooting a portal on the wall panel across the pathway and the other below the dangling core, I hurry along, propelling myself into the air, while at the same time, grabbing a hold of the core.

_0:40:07_

Visibly exhausted, my teeth grinding, my hands trembling, I place the final core onto the chassis.

"Warning: Core corruption at one-hundred percent."

"_AAARRGAH!_"

"Manual core replacement required."

"Oh, I see…" He lets out a callous chuckle.

"Substitute core, are you ready to start the-"

"YES! _COME ON_!" She shouts irately.

"Corrupted core, are you ready to start the procedure?"

"_What do you think_?"

"Interpreting vague answer as _'yes'_,"

"_Nononononono_! _No_! P- Pick up on my _sarcasm_!"

"Fire detected in the Stalemate Resolution Annex. Extinguishing,"

Sprinklers begin to douse the chaotic wall of fire, washing away the Conversion Gel as well- with an exception for the small mark below the overconfident maniac.

"Ah, that just cleans right off, doesn't it? Well, that would've been good to know- a little earlier…"

"Stalemate Resolution Associate, please press the Stalemate Resolution Button."

"Go press the button! _GO PRESS IT_!" She yells to me.

"DO _NOT_ PRESS THAT BUTTON!" Wheatley screams back.

"PRESS IT! PRESS THE BUTTON!"

"DON'T DO IT! _COME BACK_!"

After seeing the wire bars obstructing me, I fire a portal above the button and the second below Wheatley.

"PRESS IT!"

_I've had enough of this._

"DON'T PRESS IT!"

_This needs to end._

"I _FORBID_ YOU TO PRESS IT!"

_This is going to end. NOW –_

Red sparks then erupt through my fingers. Flames engulf my vision as I'm hurled against the bars, landing in the far corner of the chamber like a tossed rag-doll.

"PART FIVE! _BOOBY-TRAP THE STALEMATE BUTTON_!"

A pulsing singe swells in the back of my skull and tears stream down my searing cheeks. But in an act of unrelenting determination, I gather the little strength I have left to place my quivering hands in front of me, turning myself over on my side.

"WHAT?! _ARE YOU STILL ALIVE_?!"

"YOU ARE _JOKING_! YOU HAVE _GOT TO BE KIDDING ME_!"

"Well, _I'm_ still in control- AND I HAVE _NO IDEA HOW TO FIX THIS PLACE_!"

I desperately clutch my gun, my raspy breaths blearing like stereo static in my ears.

"OH, YOU HAD TO PLAY BLOODY _CAT-AND-MOUSE_, DID YOU?! WHILE PEOPLE WERE TRYING TO WORK?!"

"WELL, WE'RE _ALL_ GOING TO PAY THE PRICE- BECAUSE WE'RE ALL GOING TO _BLOODY DIE_!"

The ceiling crumbles away, exposing the radiant moon. _Lively_. _Stunning_. _The first and last time I will ever see it_.

… Wait…

… _The moon_…

_I…_

_ I got it._

"Oh- yeah! Take one more look at your _precious, human moon_. CAUSE' IT _CANNOT HELP YOU NOW_!"

_Zap! _

Time slackens- ceases to nothing. Silence subdues the thunderous roars of explosives. We all gaze at the brilliance of the moon, in astonishment, in disbelief, in uttermost fear of what I have just created.

_Oh, God, what have I done?_

The silence diminishes away as gravity drags all of us towards the center. Wheatley screams tirelessly as he's pulled apart through the portal. The merciless pull of gravity drags me across the chamber towards the consuming vortex. In my direst moment, I clasp Wheatley's handgrips, holding on for dear life.

"_SPACE_!"

I catch a glimpse of Earth residing against the starry blackness as I feel the oxygen depleting from me. My lungs feel as if they've collapsed in on themselves, creating a raging hellfire in my chest that gradually starts to blaze into my throat.

"_LET GO_! WE'RE IN SPACE!"

_WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I'LL LET GO?!_

"SPACE?! SPACE! _SPPPPPAAAAAAAACCCE_!" One of the cores flies out, knocking one of my hands from their deathly grip.

"AH! _LET GO_! _LET GO_! I'M STILL CONNECTED! I CAN PULL MYSELF IN! _I CAN STILL FIX THIS_!"

"I already fixed it." A hand emerges from the portal, taking a grasp around my wrist.

"And _YOU_ are _NOT_ coming back!"

"CHANGE OF PLANS! HOLD ONTO ME – _TIGHTER_!"

With a sudden jerk, my hold on Wheatley slips away, sending him hurtling into the depths of space.

"GRABMEGRABMEGRABME _GRAB MEEEEEEEEEEEE_!"

_I lost him… I can't believe I lost him…_

The hand tugs me back in, letting me lie limp on the floor as the portal closes. Without a fight, all my strength, my tenacity, my willingness to keep holding on dwindles as my eyes begin to close shut.

* * *

Struggling for breath, I urgently snap awake in the hospital bed with my good hand clutching the sickly blue-green bed sheets in a twisted knot. Realizing that I'm not dangling from the edge of the world anymore, I wearily lean against the headboard with my head in my hands.

The faintest white glow peeks from the blinds of the window, projecting twisted shadows on the walls. I glance out the window, spotting the familiar moon- not in its full, but as a lean, silver arc hiding behind the leaves of the trees. Sickened by the memories, I hastily shut the binds.

I still can't believe I actually shot the moon. Not to mention, I nearly suffocated to death in space from doing so. What the hell was I thinking back there?!

We were going to die anyway. I didn't have a choice. I didn't think. I acted. And that's how it ended.

_What else could I have done?_


	43. Chapter 43: Addio

~ Chell ~

In a clouded daze, I find myself in an elevator, fronting a pair of cheery robots I've never met before, one resembling a turret with limbs, the other akin to a core also bearing arms and legs. I then face Her, who fully gained control over the facility again.

"_Oh,_ _thank God_ _you're alright_." She sighs out of relief.

"You know, being Caroline taught me a valuable lesson."

"I thought you were my greatest enemy. While all along, you were my _best friend_…"

"The surge of emotion that shot through me when I saved your life, taught me an even more valuable lesson… where Caroline lives in my brain."

_Beeeep!_

"Caroline deleted," The announcer states.

_"Goodbye, Caroline." _

_… There She is…_

"You know, deleting Caroline just now taught me a valuable lesson."

"The best solution to a problem is usually the easiest one."

"And I'll be honest…"

"Killing you… _is hard_."

"You know what my days used to be like?"

"I just _tested_."

"Nobody murdered me."

"Or put me in a potato,"

"Or fed me to birds,"

"I had a pretty good life…"

"And then _you_ showed up."

"You _dangerous, mute, lunatic_,"

"So you know what?"

"_You win_."

_What?_

"_Just go…_"

The elevator ascends as she slips a slight, yet sinister laugh.

"_It's been fun. Don't come back_."

As the elevator continues to rise, my heart pounds against my ribs, my hands tighten into fists.

_This is a trick._

The elevator then hisses to a stop. The hatch opens, revealing a pack of turrets. Their scarlet lasers directed onto me. Behind a straight face, distress overwhelms me. I've been through too much to end like this. It's a waste. It's has all been _just a waste_…

Instead of raging gunfire, the turrets' lasers blink off, moving their gun supports back and forth to a strange beat. Just to add to my confusion, they begin to _whistle_.

The pacifying song continues to play, each little note echoing off the metallic surfaces surrounding us, before the elevator starts to rise again.

With the drop of my jaw, I'm presented with a whole army of turrets- no, an _orchestra_ of turrets, encircling around me. And as the charming, little tune finishes its last note, the most beautiful melody surfaces from the turrets' voices. I let a joyful smile emerge as one of the turrets sings the loveliest lyrics:

_"Cara bel,_

_Cara mia bella,_

_Mia bambina,_

_Oh Chell,_

_Che la stima,_

_Che la stima,_

_Oh! Cara mia, addio!"_

_"La mia bimba,_

_Cara,_

_Perché non passi lontana,_

_Sì lontana da Scienza?"_

_"Cara, cara mia bambina,_

_Ah mia bel,_

_Ah mia cara,_

_La mia cara,_

_La mia bambina,_

_Oh cara, cara mia…"_

The melody fades peacefully away as the elevator stops once more. The heavy-duty hatch screeches noisily. The moment it opens, I'm blinded by piercing light, forcing me to defend myself. When my eyesight returns, I take a wary step forward. A striking shade of blue lies above my head, specked with delicately white tuffs. A cool breeze blows past me as I take another step. Golden grass broadens across to the skyline, swaying in the gentle wind.

_I did it._

_I'm finally free_.

I feel the sudden impulse to cry, only to flinch back in alarm from the rattling of clobbered metal. The hatch swings ajar, spitting out a scorched cube bearing an innocent, pink heart, just before it slams again.

With my knees now resting on the soft soil, my eyes to the sky, I let out a soundless laugh, rejoicing in beautiful triumph.

* * *

~ Wheatley ~

"Well, you look remarkably- cheery today." I say, closing the door behind me. Chell holds a slip of paper in her hands, offering it to me as I take a seat.

My easygoingness quickly shifts into puzzlement as I examine the note: A cluster of scribbly words in foreign lettering. After re-reading the scarcely understandable inscription for the fifth time, I glance back to the contented woman.

"You never told me you knew _Spanish_ before…"

She grins, trying to hold back a snicker. Something seems fairly off about her, but it's too subtle to decipher.

"Translate this, please." She requests, her voice a little fainter than her usual speaking tone.

"Well, I'm not a native speaker myself- But I can give it a try." I look over at the paper again. After clearing my throat, I stumble through the unfamiliar phrases,

"Let's see… Ah, the first word- okay. We have '_Cara_'. That's not so difficult- Isn't that short for a spice of some kind? A type of _spice_? And- um- Next is '_bel_'. Hm, there are lots of meanings for that. Well, I can only think of _two_… _So_… Okay, let's- let's skip that one, for now…" Chell raises an eyebrow and folds her arms. I'm guessing a slap-dash interpretation from a non-bilingual isn't what she meant.

"_Fine_, I'll go to the library and translate from there." I sigh jokingly, creasing the paper and tucking it into my pocket.


	44. Chapter 44: Documents

**_Soooo_****, I watched ****_Pacific Rim_**** in theaters. Now imagine a girl balled up in a theater chair, silently fangirling every time the Gipsy Danger A.I. sounds through the speakers as gigantic robots beat the crap out of Skyrim dragon-looking aliens- Because that was me. The director apparently is a Portal fan as much as the rest of us fanatics. So he made the A.I. sound exactly like GLaDOS. I'm not kidding. He asked Valve for permission to use her voice, which makes Guillermo del Toro my favorite movie director.**

**Go, Gladdy'!**

~ Wheatley ~

Life's just full of twists, isn't it?

Directionless "partners in crime" try to escape a madhouse run by a cynical woman who lacks the "fellow feeling".

All goes well, up to the point where one assumes headship of the convoluted complex. At which he turns on his friend, leaving the other to fall down a shaft, stranded in the cancer ridden remains of whatever they attempted to seal off back then.

After a perilous battle, the foolish antagonist pays price with the pull of a trigger and trip to the moon.

And here I am, falling for the same one I set myself out to rid of.

Sounds about crazy if you think it through.

I'm not even sure why I had the ambition to injure- let alone, _eradicate _her.

I was more of a figurehead than a leader of the facility, thinking about it now.

Acting through a mainframe with homicidal reasoning.

Man, Aperture really needs to keep their technology in check.

But- That was years ago. History.

And… does she… does she feel the same for me?

Well, she let me stay, after all that.

That has to mean something, right?

Maybe, I can ask.

Just a simple question.

Just to know how she feels.

I can ask tomorrow.

As I sit back up, I hear a soft crinkling noise. The tenacity papers lie underneath my foot. With a shrug, I lift the slightly wrinkled papers up to take another look. I need something to pass the time; I'm not in the mood for mind-numbing sleep. After adjusting my glasses, and resting my back against the armrest, I scan through each piece of thickly written text,

"Subject: _1,498_

Name (Currently Documented As): _CHELL [REDACTED]_

Current Age: _26_

Height: _63.5 in_.

Weight: _124.9 lbs._

Race: _Caucasian/Asian(?)_"

"Proctor's Note:

_Test subject is abnormally stubborn. She never gives up. Ever._"

Well, of course, no new news from _that_ particular statement.

"Rejected - _DO NOT TEST_."

"Essay Question 1-A:

_Why should Aperture Science accept you as a research volunteer, and would anyone file a police report if you went missing?_

HR Note: _Subject refused to…_"

"_to…_"

"… What am I _reading_?" I ask myself, forcing my eyes to adjust in the light of the table lamp as I notice something abnormal in the script. A splitting headache later, strings of faded sentences between the thick, black words become slightly clear in my view.

In panic, I bolt off the couch, racing to the kitchen across. Digging through the drawers, I finally manage to locate the pen. As I return to the table, I trip over the glossy surface, landing face-first on the floor, while hearing a noisy _Smash!_ in the distance. Recovering stability, I head to the documents, hurriedly outlining each nearly undetectable letter lying behind the passages.

"She has _got_ to see this!"


	45. Internet Problems - Chapter Delayed

Dear FanFictioners,

I'm sure you expected the "Wheatley's Surprise Revealed" Chapter this week, right? Heh, as much as I just want to quote: "slap it on the Internet", my Internet is dwindling increasingly. In fact, I'm lucky enough to post THIS without complications. I wasted all the data. So, I have to wait to regain full connection till August 12 . Please don't think I gave up on FanFiction. Trust me, I'm not giving up mid-story. Hoping you'll understand my predicament, I ask you to please wait until the listed date. Knowing that authors sometimes have a period of months between updates, I'm sure patience is in all of you.

Sorry - and - Happy reading,

~ Indigo Code


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